Thousands of additional public service workers have student loans forgiven

The Biden administration said Thursday it would commit another $1.2 billion in student debt relief for 35,000 borrowers as part of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

The PSLF is a program that forgives loan balances for people working for governments and certain nonprofits, such as teachers, nurses or firefighters, who have made at least 10 years of payments on their outstanding balance.

The White House said that the latest round of forgiveness brings the total number of Americans who have benefited from its various debt relief actions to 4.76 million. The White House said the average amount of debt forgiven was around $35,000 per borrower.

"These 35,000 borrowers approved for forgiveness today are public service workers — teachers, nurses, law enforcement officials, and first responders who have dedicated their lives to strengthening their communities, and because of the fixes we made to Public Service Loan Forgiveness, they will now have more breathing room to support themselves and their families," President Joe Biden said in a statement.

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Public service workers are eligible for debt cancellation after making the equivalent of 120 qualifying monthly payments under an accepted repayment plan while working full-time for an eligible employer.

Thursday's announcement comes as the White House has made numerous attempts to lower the burden of student loan payments on borrowers. Last month, a federal judge in Missouri sided with a group of Republican attorneys general who claimed the administration did not have authority to enact the SAVE Plan. The SAVE Plan was created by executive order in 2023 after the administration failed in its efforts to forgive up to $20,000 of federal student loan debt per borrower.

The White House said that student loan borrowers enrolled in the SAVE Plan who have made payments for at least 10 years and originally took out up to $12,000 are eligible to have their loans automatically forgiven.

Additionally, the White House said for every $1,000 borrowed above $12,000, a borrower can receive forgiveness after an additional year of payments. That means someone enrolled in the SAVE Plan with an original debt of up to $21,000 would have their loans forgiven by the time they reach 20 years of payments.

While the case is ongoing, the ruling stipulates that the Biden administration cannot carry out additional forgiveness under the SAVE Plan.

Republicans have argued that forgiving student loans comes at a cost to those who didn't attend college.

“Once again, the Biden administration has decided to steal from the poor and give to the rich," said Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach. "He is forcing people who did not go to college, or who worked their way through college, to pay for the loans of those who ran up exorbitant student debt. This coalition of Republican attorneys general will stand in the gap and stop Biden."

The Biden administration has defended efforts to provide student debt relief.

"From day one of my Administration, I promised to fight to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity. I will never stop working to make higher education affordable – no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us," President Biden said in a Thursday statement.