The Biden administration announced its final round of student loan forgiveness, eliminating over $600 million in debt for thousands of borrowers. This relief effort targeted 4,100 former DeVry University students, whose debts were cleared following the discovery of widespread misrepresentations regarding job placement rates. Additionally, 4,550 borrowers qualified for debt cancellation through the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan. This latest wave marks the culmination of President Joe Biden's efforts to address student debt, amounting to a total of $188.8 billion forgiven for 5.3 million borrowers.
The U.S. Department of Education played a pivotal role in addressing the issues surrounding DeVry University's misrepresentations. By rectifying these problems, the department sought to provide fair relief to affected students. Moreover, the department completed a payment count adjustment for borrowers enrolled in income-driven repayment plans, ensuring accurate records for those seeking loan forgiveness after typically 20 or 25 years of repayment.
"Four years ago, President Biden made a promise to fix a broken student loan system," said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.
Borrowers can now access accurate payment counts by logging into their accounts on Studentaid.gov. This move comes after the Supreme Court blocked Biden's initial plan to provide wide-scale student loan forgiveness to tens of millions of borrowers in 2023. Despite this setback, the administration continued to improve existing debt relief programs, significantly reducing the nation's outstanding student debt.
"President Biden forgave and discharged more student loans than any previous president," remarked higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.
The announcement marks what some experts see as the end of an era in student loan forgiveness. President Biden's administration has fulfilled its promise to address issues within the student loan system, delivering substantial relief to borrowers across the country.
"We rolled up our sleeves and, together, we fixed existing programs that had failed to deliver the relief they promised, took bold action on behalf of borrowers who had been cheated by their institutions, and brought financial breathing room to hardworking Americans," added Secretary Cardona.