Biden seeks to cancel some interest on student loans, aiding 23 million Americans

The plans, which the Democratic president is set to detail in Madison, Wisconsin, include cancelling up to $20,000 of accrued and capitalized interest for borrowers, regardless of income, which Biden's administration estimates would eliminate the entirety of that interest for 23 million borrowers. Progressive voters, whom Biden hopes will support him against Republican challenger Donald Trump, have long urged the White House to address student loan debt.

President Joe Biden will announce on Monday plans to ease student debt that would benefit at least 23 million Americans, his administration said, addressing a key issue for young voters whose support he needs as he seeks re-election in November. The plans, which the Democratic president is set to detail in Madison, Wisconsin, include cancelling up to $20,000 of accrued and capitalized interest for borrowers, regardless of income, which Biden's administration estimates would eliminate the entirety of that interest for 23 million borrowers.

Progressive voters, whom Biden hopes will support him against Republican challenger Donald Trump, have long urged the White House to address student loan debt. Biden's administration has taken a string of actions despite the U.S. Supreme Court blocking his initial plan last year. The issue remains high on the agenda of younger voters, many of whom have concerns about Biden's foreign policy on the war in Gaza and fault him for not achieving greater debt forgiveness. Republicans have called Biden's student loan forgiveness approach an overreach of his authority and an unfair benefit to college-educated borrowers while other borrowers received no such relief.

Biden's new plans include automatically cancelling debt for borrowers who are eligible for certain forgiveness programs, who entered repayment decades ago, who enrolled in low financial value programs, or who are experiencing hardship. If the latest plans are finalized following a public comment period, they would take effect as early as this fall, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. Combined with the administration's previous actions, they would benefit more than 30 million Americans, Jean-Pierre added.

To date, the administration has said it has approved $146 billion in student debt relief for 4 million Americans. As of June 2023, approximately 43.4 million student loan recipients had $1.63 trillion in outstanding loans, according to the Federal Student Aid website.

"We're delivering as much relief as possible for as many borrowers as possible, as quickly as possible," U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said. Biden has vowed to continue pushing student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible following the Supreme Court's decision blocking his earlier plan to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in debt, and administration officials said they studied the 6-3 ruling in crafting the new plans.

U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, the top Republican on the Senate education panel, said such "loan schemes" simply transfer the cost of the debt onto others. "This is an unfair ploy to buy votes before an election and does absolutely nothing to address the high cost of education that puts young people right back into debt," Cassidy wrote in a statement.

Other administration officials are set to tout the new plans in events across the United States on Monday, including Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)