The Biden-Harris Administration’s Department of Education (Department) has approved more than $116 billion for student loan forgiveness, benefiting over 3.4 million borrowers. Today’s data reveals the total amount of relief eligible for each territory and state, as well as the number of borrowers. On Friday, the Department began notifying 804,000 borrowers who will have their Federal student loans automatically discharged in the coming weeks, bringing the total forgiveness amount to $39 billion. The Biden-Harris Administration has implemented plans under IDR Repayment-Driven Income that ensure accurate counting of monthly payments to determine eligibility for automatic loan relief. The Department of Education released state-by-state data to show the number of borrowers who are eligible for this relief.
The Department’s commitment to addressing historical failures in the administration of the federal student loan program was demonstrated on Friday when it announced discharges for borrowers who should have been accurately accounted for in forgiveness plans under the IDR program. Depending on the type of loan and the number of qualifying months, borrowers may be eligible for forgiveness if they have accumulated the equivalent of 25 or 20 years of qualifying payments. This announcement in April 2022 is a result of the Biden-Harris Administration’s implementation of the payment count adjustment.
The breakdown of relief and eligible borrowers can be found below, categorized by each state.
Borrowers Granted Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Discharge through Account Adjustment by Geographic Location.
State.
Borrower Count.
Debt Qualifying for Discharge (in millions).
Alabama.
12,720.
$553.90.
Alaska.
970.
$51.40.
Arizona.
20,530.
$1,030.40.
Arkansas.
6,940.
$342.60.
California.
61,890.
$2,958.80.
Colorado.
15,010.
$805.40.
Connecticut.
7,230.
$309.90.
Delaware.
2,430.
$113.10.
Washington., D.C.
2,230.
$130.20.
Florida.
56,930.
$3,036.80.
Georgia.
38,590.
$2,130.40.
Hawaii.
1,690.
$90.20.
Idaho.
5,720.
$252.90.
Illinois.
28,450.
$1,316.00.
Indiana.
19,470.
$932.80.
Iowa.
10,730.
$465.10.
Kansas.
8,410.
$424.50.
Kentucky.
11,180.
$447.70.
Louisiana.
15,190.
$824.70.
Maine.
4,790.
$212.50.
Maryland.
16,750.
$918.30.
Massachusetts.
12,530.
$592.00.
Michigan.
26,980.
$1,267.30.
Minnesota.
13,610.
$645.20.
Mississippi.
9,480.
$450.90.
Missouri.
18,800.
$956.80.
Montana.
3,700.
$185.20.
Nebraska.
5,700.
$268.90.
Nevada.
6,820.
$330.00.
New Hampshire.
3,090.
$143.80.
New Jersey.
17,290.
$788.00.
New Mexico.
5,410.
$260.30.
New York.
42,070.
$1,924.10.
North Carolina.
24,870.
$1,135.10.
North Dakota.
2,110.
$100.60.
Ohio.
37,070.
$1,736.90.
Oklahoma.
11,530.
$548.40.
Oregon.
11,780.
$572.80.
Pennsylvania.
29,840.
$1,343.50.
Rhode Island.
2,580.
$109.70.
South Carolina.
16,330.
$855.20.
South Dakota.
3,030.
$147.40.
Tennessee.
16,970..
$867.90.
Texas.
63,730.
$3,091.80.
Utah.
3,940.
$212.00.
Vermont.
1,930.
$95.80.
Virginia.
21,560.
$1,042.50.
Washington.
16,310.
$777.10.
West Virginia..
4,950.
$196.20.
Wisconsin.
12,220.
$576.10.
Wyoming.
1,230.
$61.50.
Other locations.
8,710.
$350.30.
TOTAL.
803,990.
$38,980.90.
President Biden issued the subsequent declaration to over 800,000 debtors, regarding his Administration’s effort to provide $39 billion in assistance on Friday.
I have long said that college should not be a burden for middle-class families and should be accessible for generations to come.
During my tenure, more than 3 million borrowers have been granted more than $116 billion in loan assistance, leading to relief for numerous individuals in the previous two years. As a result of the measures implemented by my administration to rectify past shortcomings, over 800,000 borrowers who have diligently repaid their student loans for 20 years or longer will witness the cancellation of $39 billion in loan debt, commencing today. My administration is fulfilling this promise.
“As quickly as we could, for as many individuals seeking loans as we could, I promptly declared a fresh strategy to establish another avenue for assistance when the Supreme Court made an erroneous judgment. Individuals with limited income will have their monthly payments reduced to nothing and undergraduate loan payments halved with a novel income-based repayment plan that my Administration has devised. The issues with Public Service Loan Forgiveness have been resolved, along with malfunctioning loan initiatives, such as achieving the most substantial enhancements to Pell Grants in ten years. However, we are not ceasing our efforts at this point.”
Outrageous is the disregard for middle-class and working families, and stunning is the hypocrisy. Even when they had been making payments for decades, some borrowers were never given the promised relief. Even today, some are objecting to the actions we announced, which follows through on providing relief to hardworking Americans. Lawmakers, who had no problem forgiving millions of dollars of their own business loans with the government, are the ones trying everything to stop me from providing relief to hardworking Americans.
“While I hold this position, I will persist in my efforts to fulfill the commitment of higher education for every American.”
Vice President Harris also released a statement, which can be found here.
Borrowers who wish to opt out of discharging their repayment during this period should contact their loan servicer for any reason. Discharges will begin 30 days after those emails were sent. Borrowers were notified by the Department starting last Friday that they qualify for forgiveness.
The Biden-Harris Administration is taking another historic step by announcing a $39 billion relief in debt relief for 804,000 borrowers, including veterans and individuals with permanent disabilities, who were cheated by colleges. We are ensuring that everyone who deserves forgiveness gets it, as we fix the past administrative failures. “Today,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona on Friday, “we are taking another step towards righting these wrongs and ensuring that borrowers who fell through the cracks of a broken system are able to keep their progress on an accurate track.”
The Department will continue to notify and identify borrowers who have not yet reached the applicable forgiveness thresholds for payment counts updates when all borrowers become eligible for forgiveness next year. During the same period, any qualifying employment documents for the borrower will also be counted towards PSLF purposes. Depending on the repayment plan and type of loan, monthly qualifying payments can be either 300 or 240 for borrowers who reach the applicable forgiveness thresholds.
The information revealed today contributes to the remarkable history of student loan assistance accomplished by the Biden-Harris Administration thus far, which encompasses:
In the future, borrowers will have the opportunity to access cost-effective payments with the assistance of President Biden and the Department. The most economical payment scheme to date, known as the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, has recently been released by the Department. This scheme will reduce payments on undergraduate loans by 50% in comparison to other IDR plans. Moreover, it ensures that borrowers’ debt will not increase as long as they fulfill their required payments and it safeguards a larger portion of a borrower’s income for essential necessities. Individuals who earn less than $15 per hour will be exempt from making any payments, while those with higher incomes will save more than $1,000 annually on their payments in contrast to other IDR plans. The benefits provided by the SAVE plan will begin to be accessible this summer.