WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — This week the Biden-Harris administration announced an additional $5.8 billion worth of cancellations of outstanding student loans for roughly 78,000 workers.
As of 2024, the current administration has utilized the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) to cancel $143.6 billion for nearly four million Americans.
"For too long, our nation’s teachers, nurses, social workers, firefighters, and other public servants faced technicalities and trap doors when they tried to access the debt relief they were entitled to under the law," said Miguel Cardona, the US Secretary of Education. "With this announcement, the Biden-Harris Administration is showing how we’re taking further steps not only to fix those trap doors, but also to expand opportunity to many more Americans."
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, students enrolled in college between 2017 and 2018 were estimated to have $23,000 in direct student loan debt.
"The Biden-Harris Administration is proud to provide relief for another 77,700 borrowers who have given back to their communities through public service," said James Kvaal, the U.S. Under Secretary of Education. "We hope this relief provides borrowers and their families some much-needed breathing room."
To receive aid from the PSLF Program students and graduates must go to the Federal Student Aid website and fill out an application. Once students have applied, their qualifying loans will be transferred to a PSLF servicer, who will determine if they have made enough payments and have been employed at an eligible organization to qualify for loan relief.
Who qualifies for aid through PSLF?
Aid is sent to current students or recent graduates working full-time for a government or non-profit organization. Students will also need to have made the equivalent of 120 monthly payments on their current loans.
Organizations that qualify for PSLF include the following:
- Civilians working for the military/active-duty soldiers
- Law enforcement
- Public health officials, including emergency responders
- Public educators, including early childhood teachers
- Service providers for disabled or elderly Americans
- Librarians in public or school-sponsored systems
Which loans qualify for cancellation through PSLF?
Students or graduates who have received direct federal loans like - consolidation loans, unsubsidized and subsidized loans, or PLUS loans - are all eligible to have them forgiven. Other loans like Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) or Perkins loans do not qualify unless first consolidated into a direct loan.
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