Biden Issues Final Round of Student Loan Forgiveness, Bringing Total Relief To $183 Billion

The Education Department announced a final round of student loan forgiveness this week, which is President Biden’s final week in office. 

“Across 28 debt relief actions, including today’s, the Administration has announced $183.6 billion in student loan forgiveness for more than 5 million borrowers since taking office,” said the department in a statement on Monday.

“Four years ago, President Biden made a promise to fix a broken student loan system,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “Today, life-changing student debt relief is possible for more than five million borrowers—more than any other administration in history.”

Here’s a breakdown of who qualifies for the latest student loan forgiveness round and what borrowers should know as the White House transitions to a new administration.

Thousands approved for student loan forgiveness in Biden’s final debt relief action

The latest round of relief is actually a combination of student loan forgiveness approvals under several separate programs, including the following:

• $465 million in loan forgiveness for 6,100 borrowers through Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). 
• $1.26 billion in discharges for 85,000 borrowers through Borrower Defense to Repayment, a program that allows former students to request relief if they believe their school engaged in fraud or misrepresentation.
• $2.5 billion in relief for 61,000 borrowers through the Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) discharge program. 

“Today’s announcement includes additional relief for borrowers misled and cheated by their institutions, borrowers with disabilities, as well as additional loan forgiveness for public servants,” said Cardona. “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.”

Latest round of relief builds on earlier student loan forgiveness efforts

This week’s round of relief brings the total amount of student loan forgiveness approved under the Biden administration to more than $183 billion, according to the Education Department. And more than five million borrowers have now received discharges — a historic number.

The relief was provided through a variety of debt relief initiatives, including executive actions and waivers, as well as regulatory changes that expanded access to existing student loan forgiveness and relief programs or made it easier for borrowers to apply. These include:

• Several temporary waivers and regulatory reforms for PSLF, which collectively resulted in more than $78 billion in student loan forgiveness approvals for 1,069,000 borrowers.
• $56.5 billion in student loan forgiveness for borrowers through Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plans, including early loan forgiveness under the SAVE plan (before that program was blocked by a federal court last summer), as well as discharges associated with administrative payment count adjustments.
• $18.7 billion in student loan discharges through the TPD Discharge program, which have benefited 633,000 borrowers.
• Additional billions in debt relief for hundreds of thousands of borrowers via prior Borrower Defense to Repayment approvals, Closed School Discharges and settlement agreements to resolve prior litigation (such as through Sweet v. Cardona).

“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. These permanent reforms will continue to more and more borrowers every year.”

Student loan forgiveness approvals come with setbacks

But it hasn’t all been sunshine and roses for the Biden administration’s student debt relief efforts. The courts have struck down some of the biggest initiatives launched by the Education Department, while other initiatives are stuck in litigation. This includes:

• President Biden’s first mass student loan forgiveness initiative under the HEROES Act, which would have wiped out $10,000 or up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt for most borrowers. The Supreme Court struck down this program in 2023.
• Biden’s SAVE plan, which lowered payments for millions and fast-tracked student loan forgiveness, remains stuck in litigation following an injunction issued by the 8^th Circuit Court of Appeals in August. It is widely expected that SAVE will ultimately be struck down by the court, or repealed by the incoming Trump administration.
• Biden’s updates to Borrower Defense to Repayment, issued in 2023, would have broadened access to the program by expanding the types of school misconduct that can be the basis for relief, and making it easier for borrowers to apply to get approved via group discharges. But these Borrower Defense regulations were blocked by a federal court last year, and now the issue will be going before the U.S. Supreme Court. 
• Biden’s “Plan B” loan forgiveness initiative and hardship-based student loan forgiveness plan were both withdrawn by the administration last month, given ongoing litigation and the fact that the incoming Trump administration likely would have killed the programs. 

In addition, millions of federal student loan borrowers have been stuck in what some have characterized as an administrative hellscape. The return to repayment has coincided with major loan servicing changes, while the SAVE plan litigation has effectively paralyzed the federal student loan repayment system, particularly for IDR plans. The Education Department indicated last week that IDR processing has resumed, but it may take months for the system to return to some semblance of normalcy, given backlogs and residual processing issues.

Many unknowns about student loan forgiveness as Trump returns

Meanwhile, borrowers are contending with significant uncertainties about what to expect in the coming months and years. While the incoming Trump administration has expressed hostility to Biden’s mass student loan forgiveness plans, transition officials have not provided much in the way of public comment about what their priorities will be for student loan programs going forward. 

But reforms might be coming. The first Trump administration had proposed repealing the PSLF program, although that proposal would have grandfathered in current borrowers, and in any event, it never gained traction. Meanwhile, some Republican congressional leaders are pushing to include student loan reforms in an upcoming reconciliation bill, which would be designed to bypass the Senate filibuster. Possible reforms could include a bar on any future student loan forgiveness through executive action, a repeal of new regulations for Borrower Defense to Repayment and a replacement of time-based IDR student loan forgiveness after 20- or 25-years with loan forgiveness only allowed after a significant sum has been repaid by the borrower. 

It remains to be seen if any of these provisions will ultimately make it into the final bill.