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Biden, a Democrat, last year pledged to find other avenues for
tackling debt relief after the Supreme Court in June blocked his
broader plan to cancel $430 billion in student loan debt.
The latest group includes public service workers, like teachers,
nurses and firefighters, who qualify under the Public Service
Loan Forgiveness Program created in 2007 to forgive student debt
for Americans who go into public service.
"These public service workers have dedicated their careers to
serving their communities, but because of past administrative
failures, never got the relief they were entitled to under the
law," Biden said in a statement.
As of June 2023, about 43.4 million U.S. student loan recipients
had $1.63 trillion in outstanding loans, according to the
Federal Student Aid website. Higher education debt has tripled
since the 2008 financial crisis.
Steep interest and hefty payments on these loans mean younger
Americans struggle to buy homes or make other investments, and
Democrats have pushed for U.S. government forgiveness for years.
Republicans largely oppose such actions.
Biden is seeking re-election in November and needs the youth
vote to help him win.
"I won’t back down from using every tool at my disposal to
deliver student debt relief to more Americans, and build an
economy from the middle out and bottom up," Biden said.
A White House official said Biden's latest move brought the
total amount of debt cancellation under the Biden administration
to $144 billion for nearly 4 million Americans.
(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Heather Timmons and
Christian Schmollinger)
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