The Biden administration has now approved student loan relief for more than 5 million Americans, surpassing a significant milestone in its efforts to ease the burden of student debt.
The White House announced on Monday that it has approved student loan relief for over an additional 150,000 borrowers. The new crop of borrowers is made up of 85,000 people who were defrauded by their schools, 61,000 people with permanent or total disabilities, and 6,100 public service workers.
In total, more than 5 million borrowers have received student loan forgiveness under President Joe Biden, amounting to $183.6 billion in debt relief.
"Since Day One of my Administration, I promised to ensure higher-education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity, and I'm proud to say we have forgiven more student loan debt than any other administration in history," Biden said in a statement.
Identifying 5 million people for student loan forgiveness means the federal government "is finally keeping its promises," said U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal.
"People who cannot afford their student loans because they are in public service, have disabilities, were cheated by their college, or who have completed decades of payments are now getting the relief they were promised," Kvaal said in a statement. "These permanent reforms will continue to more and more borrowers every year."
In addition to loan forgiveness, the Biden administration fixed errors in Income-Driven Repayment programs to deliver relief to over 1.4 million borrowers who have been in repayment for decades.
The administration also secured a $900 increase to the maximum Pell Grant — the largest increase in a decade — and finalized new rules to help protect borrowers from career programs that leave graduates with unaffordable debts and insufficient earnings.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona praised the "tireless and unapologetic efforts to work toward a system that is affordable and accountable to both students and taxpayers."
"I'm proud of our work to bring relief to these hardworking Americans across the country, and of the Biden-Harris Administration's historic achievements in making the potential of higher education possible for more people," Cardona said in a statement.
While progress has been made in providing student loan forgiveness, plans to extend relief to borrowers facing severe financial hardship have been put on hold. Proposed measures aimed at addressing the most vulnerable populations were withdrawn amid legal challenges and political opposition.