The Biden administration announced another round of student loan forgiveness on Friday (April 12). The U.S. Department of Education made changes to the Income-Driven Repayment Plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness plans to forgive $7.4 billion in student debt for 277,000 borrowers.
"As long as there are people with overwhelming student loan debt competing with basic needs such as food and healthcare, we will remain relentless in our pursuit to bring relief to millions across the country," U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement.
The new updates to the Saving on a Valuable Education plan will eliminate $3.6 billion in student loan debt for around 206,000 borrowers. Another 70,000 borrowers will have their loans wiped away through changes to several other income-driven repayment plans offered by the Education Department and the loan forgiveness program for public servants.
Since taking office, President Joe Biden has forgiven $153 billion in aid for 4.3 million people.
"These 277,000 borrowers are enrolled in my administration's SAVE Plan or were approved for relief because of fixes we made to Income-Driven Repayment Plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness," Biden said in a news release. "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."