Biden administration announces $39 billion in student debt relief following administrative fixes

The Biden administration announced Friday that 804,000 borrowers will have their student debt wiped away, totaling $39 billion worth of debt, in the coming weeks due to fixes that more accurately count qualified monthly payments under existing income-driven repayment plans, Report informs via CNN.

“For far too long, borrowers fell through the cracks of a broken system that failed to keep accurate track of their progress towards forgiveness,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a written statement.

There are currently several different kinds of income-driven repayment plans for borrowers with federal student loans, which base payments on a borrower’s income and family size – regardless of their total outstanding debt. After reaching a set forgiveness threshold of 20 or 25 years, a borrower’s remaining balance is then wiped.