US President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that he is expanding his student loan forgiveness program by canceling the loans of an additional 35,000 Americans, as he campaigns for reelection. This latest measure, which amounts to $1.2 billion in student debt relief, brings the total number of beneficiaries to 4.76 million under various debt relief actions.
In his statement, Biden emphasized that the average debt cancellation per borrower is $35,000, benefiting teachers, nurses, police officers, and first responders.
This announcement coincided with the final day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination for the upcoming November election.
Biden reiterated his commitment to making higher education affordable, saying, “I will never stop working to make higher education affordable – no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us.”
Earlier this year, Biden introduced new plans to reduce student loan debt for millions of Americans in an effort to appeal to young voters. This came after the conservative-majority US Supreme Court struck down his previous proposals to cancel several hundred billion dollars in debt last year.
In recent months, Biden has canceled the debt of 160,000 people and announced student debt relief for 150,000 others earlier in the year.
AFP