“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.
“By fixing past administrative failures, we are ensuring everyone gets the forgiveness they deserve, just as we have done for public servants, students who were cheated by their colleges, and borrowers with permanent disabilities, including veterans,” Cardona added in the statement.
Friday’s action addresses “historical failures” and administrative errors that miscounted qualifying payments made by borrowers, according to the Department of Education. Those borrowers affected will include Americans with Direct Loans or Federal Family Education Loans held by the department.
With student loan repayments resuming in October after a yearslong pause during the pandemic, Friday’s action is the latest announcement from the administration to fulfill President Joe Biden’s promise to provide millions of Americans debt relief and continues efforts that have already resulted in more debt being canceled during his tenure than any other president.
Since Biden took office, his administration has approved $116.6 billion in student debt relief for more than 3.4 million Americans, according to the Department of Education.
“Some are even objecting to the actions we announced today, which follows through on relief borrowers were promised, but never given, even when they had been making payments for decades … the disregard for working and middle-class families is outrageous,” Biden said.
Biden’s latest act comes after the Supreme Court last month struck down a much larger loan forgiveness program put forth by the administration which would have provided millions of borrowers up to $20,000 in one-time federal student debt relief.