President Joe Biden is acting on one of his biggest campaign promises by canceling up to $20,000 in student loan debt for Pell Grant recipients.
On Wednesday, the President announced the huge news for the millions of Americans that have been owing federal student loans.
The President says up to $20,000 in federal student loan will be forgiven for Pell Grant recipients. In addition, other qualifying borrowers could see up to $10,000 forgiven in student loans.
The White House has also announced that they have extended the federal student loan repayment pause for the remainder of the year through December 31.
Biden says that being doing this, he is keeping his word on one of the main promises he mentioned during his campaign speeches leading up to his 2020 General Election victory nearly two years ago.
"In keeping with my campaign promise, my Administration is announcing a plan to give working and middle class families breathing room as they prepare to resume federal student loan payments in January 2023," Biden said in a tweet today.
Over 43 million of Americans are in student loan debt, though nearly half of those borrowers will have their student loans completely canceled, according to The White House.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona released a statement on the matter, saying that this will bring a sight of relief for borrowers who suffered financially since the rise of the pandemic two years ago.
"Today, we're delivering targeted relief that will help ensure borrowers are not placed in a worse position financially because of the pandemic, and restore trust in a system that should be creating opportunity, not a debt trap," Cardona said.
However, this loan forgiveness plan will only apply to borrowers who earn less then $125,000 per year, or $250,000 for married couples who filed taxes together.
