US President Joe Biden announced Thursday additional student debt relief for public sector employees amounting to about $4.5 billion, with just over two weeks remaining until the presidential election.
This will help about 60,000 debtors across the country, the White House said, praising efforts by Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to improve loan forgiveness since taking office.
Harris is the Democratic Party’s nominee to run for president next November, against former Republican President Donald Trump.
The statement came at a time when families are struggling with rising costs of living since the Covid-19 pandemic, and voters have identified the economy as a key issue in opinion polls.
With the latest move, more than 1 million people have had their debts canceled under Public Service Loan Forgiveness, Biden said in a statement.
The program promises to relieve students of debt for teachers, nurses and other public employees after 10 years of public service and 10 years of payments.
“But for a long time, the government failed to fulfill its obligations, and only 7,000 people received amnesty,” Biden said.
“I will never stop working to make higher education accessible to everyone,” he added.
Harris said in her statement that higher education “should be a path to economic opportunity, not a lifetime of debt.”
She also promised to “continue our work to reduce costs, make higher education accessible to all, and reduce the burden of student debt.”
Biden has embarked on efforts to cancel student debt for millions of Americans, following Trump’s student loan repayment freeze during the coronavirus pandemic.
Americans have $1.6 trillion in student loans, and some end up paying them off over decades as they start their careers and families.