Biden sets new record before end of presidential term

(Dan Tri) - President Joe Biden became the leader of the largest student debt relief in US history, a few months before he left the White House.

US President Joe Biden (Photo: Reuters).

The Biden administration announced on October 17 that it would forgive an additional $4.5 billion in student debt for more than 60,000 borrowers. This is an effort by the US Department of Education to improve the public service student loan forgiveness (PSLF) program. According to CNBC, President Joe Biden has set a record, becoming the leader who has forgiven the most college student debt in US history, higher than any other predecessor. According to the announcement, the number of people who have benefited from the student loan forgiveness program under his tenure has exceeded 1 million. "Public service workers - teachers, nurses, firefighters - are the foundation of our communities and our country. But for too long, the government has failed to deliver on its commitments," Mr. Biden said in a statement. The PSLF program, signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2007, allows some nonprofit and government employees to have their federal student loans forgiven after 10 years. In 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau estimated that a quarter of American workers could qualify for debt forgiveness under the program. However, the program has faced a number of problems related to its conditions, which has long prevented many people from taking advantage. Before Biden took office, only 7,000 people had their loans forgiven under the PSLF program, according to the U.S. Department of Education. The program's denial rate was as high as 98% in some years, the department added. Under Biden, the U.S. Department of Education has loosened the program's requirements and reformed how it is administered. The news comes as the U.S. election approaches. Biden previously said that “too many Americans are stressed” about high student loans. Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has pledged to strengthen the PSLF program if she wins in November, focusing on helping more men of color become public school teachers. Trump, on the other hand, has called for the program to be eliminated. Among Republicans, there are those who oppose the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness policy. They say that not all Americans choose to go to college. Therefore, it would be unfair to force hard-working Americans to pay taxes to pay for those who go to college.

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