By Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden’s administration said on Wednesday it is cancelling $1.2 billion worth of student loans for some 153,000 people who are eligible under a program used to make good on promises to increase loan forgiveness.
Biden last year pledged to find other avenues for tackling debt relief after the Supreme Court in June blocked a broader plan to forgive $430 billion in student loan debt.
The administration has now canceled some $138 billion in student debt for nearly 3.9 million people through executive actions, the White House said.
The latest announcement applies to people enrolled in a repayment program known as Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) and covers those who borrowed $12,000 or less who have been repaying the money for at least 10 years.
The move will “particularly help community college and other borrowers with smaller loans and put many on track to being free of student debt faster than ever before,” the White House said.
Left-leaning progressive and young voters, whose support Biden needs to win re-election in November, have been vocal in advocating for student loan forgiveness on a wide scale. Republicans largely oppose such actions.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; editing by Miral Fahmy)
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