President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that his administration would forgive student loans for thousands of public service workers, marking the latest effort to address student debt.
The forgiveness initiative will cancel $6 billion in student debt for approximately 78,000 teachers, nurses, firefighters, and other public service employees, according to Biden.
“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 stated.
This latest announcement follows a series of actions aimed at addressing student debt under the Biden administration’s initiatives, which have sought to cancel or reduce student debt since the Supreme Court’s ruling last year that outlawed a larger student debt reduction program.
“Through all of our various student debt relief actions, nearly four million Americans have had their student debt canceled under my administration,” Biden noted.
In January, the White House disclosed the cancellation of nearly $5 billion in student loans for 74,000 borrowers.
“From day one of my administration, I promised to fix broken student loan programs and make sure higher education is a ticket to the middle class,” Biden reiterated on Thursday.
“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.”
