Biden Administration Forgives More Debt As Its Last Act on Student Loans

President Joe Biden’s administration forgave the debt of 8,650 borrowers Thursday in its last student loan forgiveness action before it leaves office.

The Department of Education announced it is forgiving more than $600 million in student loan debt for borrowers enrolled in the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan and additional relief to borrowers whose schools engaged in misconduct.

The department has rolled out multiple rounds of forgiveness this week as it prepares for a new administration to take over. This is the 33rd and last student loan forgiveness act by the Biden administration, making the total amount of forgiveness from the administration $188.8 billion for 5.3 million borrowers, the department said.

Who Got Relief?

More than 4,550 borrowers enrolled in the IBR plan were granted forgiveness under the plan’s rules. This was part of the administration’s clerical adjustments to accounts that did not accurately track borrowers’ progress toward forgiveness.

In addition, the department said some borrowers who were affected by certain servicer transitions in 2024 could see the number of months they have made on their loans increase by one or two in the coming weeks. This is important as borrowers under income-driven repayment plans can achieve forgiveness after a certain number of monthly payments, depending on what type of payment plan they are on and what degree they earned.

The department also forgave debt for 4,100 students who attended DeVry University, which allegedly spread misrepresentations about its job placement rates.