Payam Javan: The U.S. Department of Education has announced the cancellation of nearly $5 billion in federal student loan debt for approximately 73,600 borrowers, with the majority being public servants. This move is part of the Biden administration’s ongoing efforts to address specific groups of federal student loan borrowers. The beneficiaries include 43,900 individuals receiving $3.2 billion in student loan discharge through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which erases outstanding balances for those in public service roles after 10 years of qualifying payments.

In 2021, the Biden administration revamped the Loan Forgiveness program, allowing hundreds of thousands of borrowers to accrue additional credit toward final discharge. The remaining $1.7 billion will benefit 29,700 individuals enrolled in income-driven repayment plans. Despite being in repayment for at least 20 years, these borrowers have not received debt relief due to inaccuracies in loan servicers’ payment accounting.

Including this announcement, the Biden administration has now approved the cancellation of over $136 billion in student loan debt for more than 3.7 million individuals. U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal emphasized the administration’s commitment to assisting borrowers who had planned their lives around promises of loan help.