According to new White House data, a total of 26.26 million student loan borrowers have applied or been deemed automatically eligible for relief under President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, and 16.48 million fully-approved applications have been sent to loan servicers for discharge.
The new data released on January 27 provides a breakdown by state of the number of people whose applications for debt relief were approved by the Department before the administration was prevented from discharging the debt.
More Borrowers Will Be Qualified
According to the White House, more than 40 million borrowers would qualify for the debt relief program, with nearly 90 percent of the benefits going to borrowers with annual incomes of less than $75,000.
The program would forgive federal student loan borrowers up to $10,000 and Pell grant recipients up to $20,000. Individuals earning less than $125,000 and families earning less than $250,000 would be eligible, representing 95% of all student loan borrowers.
Forgiveness is the centerpiece of the administration’s efforts to provide student loan borrowers with financial relief. The White House estimates that up to 43 million people would be eligible for some form of loan forgiveness under the plan, and nearly half would have their loans completely forgiven.
Those who disagree with Biden’s plan argue that it would be too costly to provide widespread debt relief and that the additional funds in the hands of borrowers would only serve to fuel inflation.
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Lawsuit Against Student Loan Forgiveness
3 Conservatives have also criticized the program on the grounds that it is unfair to those who repaid their student loans on their own.
At least six lawsuits were filed by various opposition groups challenging the program on the grounds that the Department of Education lacks the authority to forgive loans en masse without approval from Congress.
In November, a federal judge in Texas invalidated the plan, causing the White House to shut down the Department of Education’s application portal.
The suspension of payments and interest on federally-held student loans will continue until the legal dispute is resolved or on June 30, whichever date comes first.
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