As expected this Wednesday, President Biden has announced a plan to cancel a decent amount of student loan debt. In addition to that, he provided an update on the extension of the existing payment pause.
The Biden administration is canceling up to $20,000 in student debt for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for individual borrowers who make under $125,000 per year. On top of this, they are extending the pause on repayments by four months, the White House announced today.
Shortly after the news was shared, President Biden took Twitter and said, “I’ll be delivering remarks on my Administration’s student loan debt relief plan at 2:15 PM ET.” He then directed people to go to StudentAid.gov/DebtRelief for more information. The page read, “To smooth the transition back to repayment and help borrowers at highest risk of delinquencies or default once payments resume, the U.S. Department of Education will provide up to $20,000 in debt cancellation to Pell Grant recipients with loans held by the Department of Education and up to $10,000 in debt cancellation to non-Pell Grant recipients.
Borrowers are eligible for this relief if their individual income is less than $125,000 or $250,000 for households.”
In keeping with my campaign promise, my Administration is announcing a plan to give working and middle class families breathing room as they prepare to resume federal student loan payments in January 2023.
I’ll have more details this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/kuZNqoMe4I
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 24, 2022
This move comes days before the Aug. 31 deadline, when loan repayments were set to resume after a series of pauses due to the coronavirus pandemic. Not only will this alleviate some of the debt burdens of 43 million Americans but it is also fulfilling one of his major campaign promises. Sen. Elizabeth Warren quickly took to Twitter to celebrate. She said, “Today is a day of joy and relief.
President Biden is canceling up to $20,000 of federal student debt for as many as 43 million Americans — a powerful step to help rebuild the middle class. This will be transformative for the lives of working people all across this country.”
She added, “Cancelling student debt will provide financial relief to millions of Americans who borrowed to pay for college because they didn’t come from wealthy families.
The bottom line is this: Millions of working people will have a chance to build a more secure economic future because of President Biden’s decision to #CancelStudentDebt.
The first bill I introduced in the Senate was to help Americans struggling with the high cost of student loan debt. This victory happened because thousands of Americans organized and voted for real action to improve people’s lives. I am grateful to organizers for their years of hard, persistent work. They show us that we can make democracy work.” She added before concluding, “I’ll continue working with the Biden administration to reform our higher education system and create a stronger economy for all Americans. @POTUS’ action to cancel student debt is a big deal.”