Feb. 21 (UPI) — The Biden administration said on Wednesday that it will eliminate $1.2 billion in student loan debt for nearly 153,000 borrowers who were eligible under the Saving on a Valuable Education Plan.
Borrowers under the SAVE program, which provides relief for people who have been making payments for more than 10 years on loans of $12,000 or less, will receive an email from President Joe Biden informing them their debts have been forgiven.
“With today’s announcement, we are once again sending a clear message to borrowers who had low balances: If you’ve been paying for a decade, you’ve done your part, you deserve relief,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said.
The Education Department said that 7.5 million student loan borrowers have signed up for the SAVE plan and it will continue to process members as they meet the loan length and payment requirements.
It added that borrowers eligible for forgiveness under the SAVE plan will automatically have their loans discharged without any action on their part moving forward.
The latest round of forgiveness follows through on a pledge by Biden in January to deliver forgiveness to borrowers enrolled in the SAVE plan in February, months ahead of an original deadline set for July.
The Education Department said the administration is working on additional proposed regulations to further expand loan forgiveness eligibility and will hold a negotiated rulemaking session this week.
The SAVE plan was put into place after the Supreme Court last year ruled Biden’s plan for broader student loan relief unconstitutional.
The White House said eliminating student loan debt was meaningful because it affected so many families and how the debt prevented them from carrying on with other personal financial goals in life like purchasing a home. It said opposition to the plan is more political than practical.
“While Republicans in Congress and their allies try to block President Biden every step of the way, the Biden-Harris administration continues to cancel student debt for millions of borrowers and is leaving no stone unturned in the fight to give more borrowers breathing room on their student loans,” it said.
