4.8M borrowers - including 1M in public service - have had student debt forgiven, Biden admin says

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced a milestone Thursday in its effort to cancel Americans' student debt: it has provided relief to more than one million borrowers who work in public service.

Through the Department of Education's Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, the administration approved about $4.5 million in additional student loan relief for more than 60,000 borrowers, bringing the total relief through that program to $74 million for more than 1 million people.

That brings the total amount of student debt relief under the administration to $175 billion for more than 4.8 million borrowers over the nearly four years President Joe Biden has been in office, the department said.

The Education Department said that before Biden took office, only 7,000 public servants had ever received student debt relief through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. The program was previously "riddled by dysfunction," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement, adding that "countless public servants were trapped making payments on debts that should have been forgiven.”

Cardona added that "pursuing a career in public service is not only a noble calling but a reliable pathway to becoming debt-free within a decade.”

Those who qualify for the program include nurses, social workers, teachers, first responders, service members and other public servants.

The Education Department explained that the program was previously managed by a single specialty loan servicer, but is now entirely managed by the department, which it said makes "it easier for borrowers to participate in program."

The milestone comes after the administration has faced legal challenges to a number of its student debt relief proposals and roadblocks put up by court rulings. The Supreme Court, for example, ruled last year that the administration’s original student debt forgiveness program couldn't take effect. That plan would have benefited 43 million borrowers by canceling up to $20,000 in debt, potentially costing more than $400 billion.

In a statement Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris celebrated the administration's student loan relief efforts, saying "while Republican elected officials do everything in their power to block millions of their own constituents from receiving this much needed economic relief, I will continue our work to lower costs, make higher education more affordable, and relieve the burden of student debt. I am fully committed to doing what is necessary to build an economy that works for every American."