The Department of Education said Wednesday it is canceling $1.2 billion in student loans for nearly 153,000 borrowers under the SAVE Plan that President Biden crafted after a separate forgiveness plan was blocked by the Supreme Court.
Borrowers will receive an email from Mr. Biden saying they are approved for forgiveness and don’t need to do anything else.
They are the first borrowers to see their loans discharged under the plan, which provides relief to persons who borrowed $12,000 or less and have been paying down their debt for at least 10 years.
“With today’s announcement, we are once again sending a clear message to borrowers who had low balances: if you’ve been paying for a decade, you’ve done your part, and you deserve relief,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said. “Under President Biden’s leadership, our Administration has now approved loan forgiveness for nearly 3.9 million borrowers, and our historic fight to cancel student debt isn’t over yet.”
Debt forgiveness is a key agenda item for Mr. Biden. He is trying to keep young voters in his corner after they fueled his 2020 win over former President Donald Trump.
Facing a rematch, some young voters appear to be abandoning the elderly president over his position on the Israel war in Gaza or other issues.
Also, an attempt to revise the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, form that allows students to apply for college loans suffered a lousy rollout, with some students unable to fill it out.
Mr. Biden established the Saving on a Valuable Education Plan as a workaround after an attempt to wipe out debt for tens of thousands of student borrowers and Pell Grant recipients ran into political and legal roadblocks.
The SAVE Plan allows for forgiveness based on the original principal balance of federal loans and the number of years borrowers have been making payments, as well as income and family size.
All told, the administration said Mr. Biden has wiped out nearly $138 billion in student debt for nearly 4 million borrowers through more than two dozen executive actions.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.