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Joe Biden forgave student loan debt, but not as much as promised

Caleb McCullough
By Caleb McCullough December 16, 2024

The U.S. Supreme Court shut down President Joe Biden's proposal to forgive $400 billion in student loan debt, but his administration pursued other avenues that forgave billions in debt.

During his 2020 campaign, Biden promised to forgive all undergraduate tuition debt from two- and four-year public colleges and universities for people earning less than $125,000. 

His initial proposal was narrower than that promise: He proposed forgiving $10,000 in debt (or $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients) for student loan borrowers earning less than $125,000 a year. 

The Supreme Court struck down Biden's student loan forgiveness plan in 2023, driving the administration to explore other avenues for debt forgiveness. After the court blocked the broad forgiveness, an income-driven repayment program, Saving on a Valuable Education, also met resistance in federal court and has been temporarily blocked.

Despite those roadblocks, the White House said in October the administration has forgiven $175 billion in student loan debt — about 44% of the forgiveness proposed under his initial plan and about 10% of all federal student loan debt. 

"I would consider this a meaningful, significant achievement despite the US Supreme Court blocking their broader loan forgiveness plan as well as the new SAVE repayment plan," said Judith Scott-Clayton, a Columbia University economics and education professor. 

Biden's term achieved student debt forgiveness mainly by broadening eligibility for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program lets public service workers such as teachers or firefighters apply for loan forgiveness after making payments for 10 years.

Before Biden's presidency, people qualified for forgiveness only if they paid through an income-driven repayment plan and had direct federal loans, not federal family education loans. Biden's Education Department waived those two requirements, making people eligible whatever their payment plan and allowing loan consolidation without resetting borrowers' progress toward forgiveness. Biden's administration has also made it easier to apply for forgiveness online.

More than 1 million borrowers had their loans forgiven through the public service program during Biden's term, amounting to $74 billion. From 2017 — the year people were first eligible for the program — to 2021, 7,000 borrowers were approved for forgiveness under the program, the White House said. 

"Recognizing that no one was aware of the requirements and temporarily waiving them was a godsend for many, including those who had made 50 or 60 payments that should have been unnecessary," said Martin Lynch, president of the Financial Counseling Association of America, a nonprofit that represents financial counseling companies.

The Saving on a Valuable Education plan capped borrowers' payments at 5% of discretionary income and accelerated a path toward loan forgiveness. More than 1 million borrowers had $56.5 billion in loans forgiven through that plan, the White House said. 

Biden also forgave $28.7 billion in loans to students of predatory for-profit colleges and forgave $16.2 billion in loans to more than 572,000 borrowers with permanent disabilities.

Biden fell short of his proposal to forgive all student debt for people earning less than $125,000 a year. Although his initial plan was blocked, Biden's Education Department forgave $175 million in debt, amounting to about 44% of the relief he initially promised. 

We rate this promise Compromise.

Our Sources

Studentaid.gov, The Biden-Harris Administration's Student Debt Relief Plan Explained, accessed Dec. 16, 2024

SCOTUSblog, Supreme Court strikes down Biden student-loan forgiveness program, June 30, 2023

National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, Federal Appeals Court Fully Blocks SAVE Repayment Plan, July 22, 2024

The White House, FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces Over 1 Million Public Service Workers Have Received Student Debt Cancellation Under the Biden-Harris Administration, Oct. 17, 2024

CNN, Biden has approved $175 billion in student loan forgiveness for nearly 5 million people, Oct. 17, 2024

Department of Education, Fact Sheet: Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program Overhaul, Oct. 6, 2021

Email interview with Judith Scott-Clayton, economics and education professor at Columbia University, Dec. 13, 2024

Email and phone interview with Martin Lynch, president of the Financial Counseling Association of America, Dec. 13, 2024