Joe Biden revealed on Monday his intentions to alleviate student debt, a move set to benefit at least 23 million Americans and cater to the support of young voters crucial for his re-election bid in November.
The plan includes the cancellation of up to $20,000 in accrued and capitalized interest for borrowers, regardless of their income. This action is estimated by the Biden administration to eliminate all such interest for the 23 million borrowers.
This latest relief round will impact 277,000 Americans enrolled in the Save Plan, alongside other borrowers in Income-Driven Repayment plans and those receiving Public Service Loan Forgiveness, as per a White House statement.
It comes on the heels of a March announcement canceling $6 billion in student loans for 78,000 borrowers.
In total, the administration has greenlit $153 billion in student debt relief for 4.3 million Americans.
Last year, Biden, a Democrat, vowed to explore alternative routes for debt relief following the US Supreme Court's June ruling that blocked his broader plan to cancel $430 billion in student loan debt.
The campaign of former President Donald Trump, Biden's Republican rival in the White House race, criticized the student loan cancellation in March, labeling it a bailout carried out "without a single act of Congress".
The topic remains a priority for younger voters, many of whom are critical of Biden's foreign policy regarding the Gaza conflict and lament his failure to achieve more significant debt forgiveness.
Republicans have denounced Biden's approach to student loan forgiveness as an overstep of his authority and an unfair advantage to college-educated borrowers over others who did not receive such relief.
According to the Brookings Institution think tank, approximately half of federal student loan debt is held by individuals with a graduate degree. A Department of Education report from August 2023 highlighted that graduate students received the largest share - 47% - of federal student loan disbursements from 2021-22, despite constituting only 21% of all borrowers.
