Biden Administration Transfers Nearly $6 Billion in Student Debt Held by Public-Service Employees to Taxpayers

The Biden administration’s latest student-debt handout will cost nearly $6 billion and benefit 78,000 public-service employees.

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program applies to nurses, teachers, firefighters, and social workers, the Biden administration said in a statement on Thursday.

“I won’t back down from using every tool at my disposal to deliver student debt relief to more Americans, and build an economy from the middle out and bottom up,” Biden said.

PSLF is a debt-forgiveness program for government and non-profit employees who work for at least ten years. The Biden administration has used the program to transfer $62.5 billion in student debt to the public since October 2021, when PLSF eligibility was expanded, according to the Department of Education.

“Today, more than 100 times more borrowers are eligible for PSLF than there were at the beginning of the Administration. The Biden Administration is turning a promise broken under our predecessor into a promise kept,” said Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.

To date, the Biden administration has forgiven student debt for over 870,000 public service workers, some of the roughly 4 million Americans who have gotten their student loans cancelled under the current administration. An additional 380,000 borrowers will receive an email notification from President Biden notifying them that they will be eligible for PSLF over the next two years.

“I hope you continue the important work of serving your community – and if you do, in less than two years you could get your remaining student loans forgiven through Public Service Loan Forgiveness,” the email says.

Last month, the White House wiped out $1.2 billion in student debt for 153,000 people under the newly created Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan for borrowers struggling to repay their student loan debt. The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School estimates the SAVE initiative will cost $475 billion over a ten year period.

Biden’s executive actions to forgive student-loan debt comes after the Supreme Court blocked the White House from erasing over $400 billion of debt under the HEROES Act. The president promised to defy the Supreme Court in the wake of the ruling last year and figure out alternative paths to debt forgiveness. Since becoming president, Biden has forgiven over $130 billion in student-loan debt.

Student-loan debt is a top issue for young voters and likely to play an important role in helping Biden secure youth support for the upcoming 2024 presidential election. A poll taken in December found registered young voters in swing states were unsatisfied with the level of student loan forgiveness by the Biden administration.