Biden-Harris administration canceling $1.2 billion in student debt

On Wednesday, the Biden administration said it would begin emailing roughly 153,000 borrowers to let them know their remaining student loan debts had been forgiven, according to a statement by the Department of Education. The administration claimed on Wednesday that these cancellations would mean it had forgiven a total of around $138 billion in student loan debt for almost 4 million Americans.

What sorts of people will receive cancellations on their debts? Borrowers enrolled in the administration’s Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE plan, who have been making payments for 10 years or more after taking out $12,000 or less in student loans are eligible, according to the Department of Education. For borrowers who initially took out more than $12,000 in loans, one more year of payments is required for every $1,000.

Hasn’t this been tried before and stopped? Last year, the Supreme Court killed a Biden administration plan that would cancel roughly $430 billion in total student loan payments after several states sued the administration. The Biden administration had sought to create a program under the HEROES Act of 2003 to forgive up to $20,000 of student loan debt per eligible borrower. That same day, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said he strongly disagreed with the court’s decision and promised borrowers, “Our fight is not over.”

Dig deeper: Read Emma Freire’s report in WORLD Magazine about how student loan debt can hit students at Christian colleges particularly hard.