President Biden forgives 40,000 student loans in effort to deliver on campaign promise

The United States government is forgiving 40,000 student loans in an ongoing effort to fulfill a popular campaign promise that has proven harder to deliver than expected.

In addition to forgiving the debt of 40,000 borrowers, the White House is also awarding credits to help another 3.6 million borrowers to pay off their student debts.

The measures are an addition to the pause of almost all student loan debt collection since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was recently extended to August 31.

“Student loans were never meant to be a life sentence, but it’s certainly felt that way for borrowers locked out of debt relief they’re eligible for,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement from the Department of Education.

“Today, the Department of Education will begin to remedy years of administrative failures that effectively denied the promise of loan forgiveness to certain borrowers enrolled in IDR plans,” he continued. “These actions once again demonstrate the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to delivering meaningful debt relief and ensuring federal student loan programs are administered fairly and effectively.”

Under the new program, several thousand borrowers who have older student loans will also receive some relief via Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plans. The programs cap the total amount borrowers must repay, and forgive the balance after a number of years.

The Department of Education says the new steps to forgive student loans will help address “historical failures in the administration of the federal student loan program.”

The goal of the forgiveness and relief programs are part of the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment “to making student loan relief programs work for everyone, including by addressing failures that deny borrowers the benefits they earned.”