The White House previously announced that approximately 813,000 borrowers whose accounts were adjusted in August 2023 would receive an email from President Biden indicating their loans are being forgiven. This was based on the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) one-time account adjustment to evaluate which borrowers met the qualifying threshold on their repayment plan. 

Over the past several months, a growing number of borrowers have been receiving debt relief through ED’s adjustments to borrowers' accounts. In October 2023, approximately 125,000 more borrowers had $9 billion in debt wiped out through not only income-driven repayment adjustments, but also relief through Public Service Loan Forgiveness. The relief came at a time when borrowers were experiencing challenges since payments resumed, including inaccurate billing, and communication issues with their servicers due to the unprecedented transition back into repayment. ED also has indicated it will hold servicers accountable as borrowers make their payments. Recently, it withheld October pay from the servicer MOHELA over its failure to send billing statements to millions of borrowers on time. 

A new announcement from The White House has an additional 153,000 borrows set to receive more debt relief. These borrowers will receive an email that their remaining federal student loan debt is cancelled. Specifically, the email will be sent to some borrowers who are enrolled in the SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education) plan, which launched in August 2023. Borrowers who have been making at least 10 years of payments and originally took out $12,000 or less for college may qualify. For every $1,000 borrowed over and above that amount, an additional year is added before a borrower can receive relief. The White House estimates that approximately $1.2 billion in debt will be cancelled. 

There are approximately 7.5 million total borrowers currently enrolled. The SAVE plan offers generous repayment terms to low-income borrowers and is based on income and family size. Unpaid interest will not accrue if the full monthly payment is made. 

Nearly $138 billion in federal student loan debt has been canceled for approximately 3.9 million borrowers since President Biden took office. Under the Biden administration, ED has canceled more federal student loan debt than during any previous administration.