US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee discusses President Biden’s upcoming foreign policy speech ‘The Bottom Line.’
President Biden announced the approval of the granting of student loans to more than 150,000 people on Monday, and the White House revealed a total of more than five million beneficiaries during the presidency.
With one week left in office, Biden said his administration has “taken historic steps to reduce the burden of student debt, hold back the worst, and fight for students across the country.”
“These 150,000 borrowers include: approximately 85,000 borrowers who attend schools that cheat and defraud their students, 61,000 borrowers living with total disabilities, and 6,100 government employees,” Biden said in a statement.
Biden boasted that his administration has also awarded a record high number of Pell Grants over the past 10 years.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION RETURNS EDUCATION, REOPENING TUITION-BASED REFUNDS
President Biden made reducing student debt a top priority during his administration. (Ron Sachs/Getty Images)
“I promised to make sure that higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity, and I’m proud to say that we have forgiven more student loan debt than any other administration in history,” Biden said in a statement.
The Department of Education noted that this latest move brings the total amount released by the administration to $183.6 billion.
Last month, two student loan repayment programs were reopened for registration by the Department of Education (DOE) following a federal court order. The Biden administration Savings through Value Education (SAVE) program.
SUPREME COURT AGAINST BIDEN ON STUDENT LOAN DEBT
President Biden speaks during an event in Madison, Wisconsin, on April 8, 2024. (Daniel Steinle/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
New enrollments in the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) programs were suspended last summer in an effort to get them out and encourage borrowers to sign up for the Biden-Harris administration’s SAVE program, but now people can. register again.
These two reinstated programs offer Public Service Loan Forgiveness and income restoration. Monthly payments are set by the borrower’s income, family size and allow borrowers to receive forgiveness after “extended payment periods,” the DOE said.
Melissa Byrne, center, joins student loan borrowers to demand President Biden use “Plan B” to cancel student debt quickly at a rally outside the United States Supreme Court on June 30, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Paul Morigi/We The 45 Million / Getty Images)
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New PAYE and ICR registrations will be open until 1 July 2027, the DOE said.