Biden cancels $7.7bn more in student debt for 160,000 borrowers

The move brings the total number of students benefitting from the president’s debt relief push to 4.75 million.

United States President Joe Biden has announced his administration is cancelling a total of $7.7bn in student debt for another 160,000 borrowers.

The latest action on Wednesday brings the total number of people to benefit from the president’s debt relief push to 4.75 million, according to the US Department of Education.

Biden, keen to shore up waning support among young people ahead of the November presidential election, had pledged last year to find other avenues for tackling debt relief after the Supreme Court in June blocked his broader plan to cancel $430bn in student loan debt.

The president said beneficiaries of the newest measures include people in three categories who meet certain milestones that make them eligible for cancellation, including 54,000 borrowers enrolled in Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan, 39,000 enrolled in earlier income-driven plans and about 67,000 people who are eligible through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness programme.

“Today’s announcement comes on top of the significant progress we’ve made for students and borrowers over the past three years,” Biden said in a statement. “I will never stop working to cancel student debt – no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us.”