Biden administration forgives $4.5B in student debt for public service workers

The Biden administration announced on Oct. 17, the cancellation of $4.5 billion in student debt for more than 60,000 local, state, federal, and tribal government workers and others in public service. 

The debt relief is the result of fixes the administration has made to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which clears the remaining student loan balances for public servants who have made monthly payments for at least 10 years, according to a Department of Education statement.  

“From day one, the Biden-Harris administration made fixing this broken program a top priority, and today, I’m tremendously proud that over one million teachers, nurses, social workers, veterans and other public servants have received life-changing loan forgiveness,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said. “As secretary of education, I want to send a message to college students across America that pursuing a career in public service is not only a noble calling but a reliable pathway to becoming debt-free within a decade.”

President Joe Biden, whose student debt agenda has faced repeated legal challenges by Republicans, has increasingly emphasized the record sums of loan cancellation granted through existing programs.

The relief announced Thursday brings the total loan forgiveness approved by the Biden administration to more than $175 billion, including $74 billion for over 1 million borrowers through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which was established by Congress in 2007.

That program ran into criticism in 2017 when the vast majority of applicants for loan forgiveness were denied. A report by the Government Accountability Office a year later blamed the Department of Education for not, among other things, making the rules clearer—an issue the agency corrected in 2022.

Since then, the administration has been steadily granting waivers, including 35,000 in July. When Biden took office, just 7,000 borrowers had been granted relief over the previous four years.  

"This progress on debt relief is monumental and is empowering the essential workers who keep our public schools, hospitals and communities running," AFSCME President Lee Saunders said in a written statement. AFSCME members are mobilizing to elect Vice President Kamala Harris and "continue this progress for public service workers," he said. 

Public workers interested in taking advantage of the program can visit StudentAid.gov. 

The Department of Education will contact governors and mayors across the country to encourage state and local public service workers to take advantage of the new debt relief. Major public sector unions are also encouraging their members to sign up for the loan forgiveness program. The American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association offer student debt clinics and an online student debt navigator tool for members seeking loan forgiveness.

In a White House video posted earlier today, Rhode Island kindergarten teacher Kelly Beckford learned directly from President Joe Biden that after 12 years of payments, her debt was finally gone.

“By the way you're $46,000 richer,” Biden told Beckford. “I just forgave your debt. Done. Done done, done, and you deserve it.”