President Joe Biden on Wednesday will announce $1.2 billion of student debt relief for nearly 153,000 borrowers and hes sending emails to make sure they know whom to thank for it.
The administrations latest tranche of loan forgiveness covers borrowers who are enrolled in Bidens new loan repayment program, initially borrowed $12,000 or less and have been repaying their debt for at least 10 years.
Biden will tout the relief and his administrations broader efforts to cancel student loan debt for tens of millions of Americans during remarks in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
The White House said the event will include some of the borrowers who will benefit from the announcement as well as those whove previously had their debts canceled by Biden.
The administration says that it has now approved loan discharges totaling nearly $138 billion for nearly 3.9 million borrowers through dozens of administrative actions since coming into office.
Congratulationsall or a portion of your federal student loans will be forgiven because you qualify for early loan forgiveness under my Administrations SAVE Plan, says the email message from Biden that the Education Department plans to send on Wednesday to the latest group of borrowers receiving loan forgiveness.
Previously, borrowers under federal income-driven repayment programs would have to make payments for 20 or 25 years before having their remaining balances forgiven.
But Bidens SAVE plan reduces that timeline for many borrowers. The Education Department announced earlier this year it would implement that benefit automatically for borrowers about six months ahead of schedule.
Under the plan, borrowers who originally borrowed $12,000 or less start receiving a discharge of their remaining balance after making 10 years of payments. That amount of time increases by one year for each additional $1,000 borrowed. For example, borrowers who initially borrowed $13,000 would need to repay for 11 years before receiving forgiveness, for example.
Borrowers must be enrolled in the SAVE plan to receive that relief. The Education Department said it planned to reach out to borrowers theyve identified who would be eligible for loan forgiveness immediately if they sign up for the SAVE program.
The department said that about 7.5 million borrowers are currently enrolled in the SAVE plan. About 4.3 million of those borrowers have income that is low enough to quality them for a $0 monthly payment.
Republicans have slammed Bidens SAVE program as unfair and fiscally irresponsible, blasting the hundreds of billions of dollars the program is expected to cost.
House Republicans passed legislation last year to nullify the program, though the effort fell short in the Senate.