More than 25,000 borrowers in six key swing states are set to have over $200 million in student loan debt canceled thanks to President Biden.
The Biden-Harris administration on Friday released a state-by-state breakdown of the nearly 153,000 borrowers who will benefit from the latest round of loan cancelation under the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan.
“When we talk about fixing a broken student loan system, this is what we’re talking about,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “The state-by-state SAVE Plan debt forgiveness numbers we’re announcing today not only show that President Biden’s leadership is making a real impact on people’s lives in every state — they demonstrate that we won’t ever stop fighting to make higher education more affordable and accessible for more Americans.”
“This is that commitment in action. This is the real deal,” the secretary said.
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The numbers show highly-populated states, like solid-blue California, are getting the most cash. California, Texas and Florida will receive a combined $336.8 million in debt cancellation, but residents of states that are key to Biden’s re-election effort will also receive substantial debt relief.
The six states that may determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Former President Donald Trump won the White House in 2016 because of his surprise victories in the traditionally Democratic-leaning Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Biden narrowly flipped those states in 2020, along with Georgia and Arizona, winning the White House by a combined 42,844 votes across three of those states.
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According to the Education Department, 3,990 borrowers in Arizona stand to have $33 million in debt canceled; 6,050 in Georgia will have $49.7 million in debt forgiven; and 1,990 in Wisconsin will get $13.8 million in debt relief.
Student loan relief was a pillar of Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, and some progressives still say the president has fallen short by not eliminating all federal student debt.
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In June, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that federal law does not allow Biden’s Secretary of Education to cancel more than $430 billion in student loan debt. Biden promised at the time that his administration would continue to push for his student debt relief plan.
On Wednesday, he announced that borrowers enrolled in his SAVE plan who have been in repayment for at least 10 years and hold $12,000 or less in student loan debt will have those loans canceled. Those with larger debts will receive relief after an additional year of payments for every additional $1,000 they borrowed.
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President Biden has so far unilaterally wiped away nearly $138 billion in federal student loans for almost 3.9 million borrowers without a single act of Congress.
Republicans have vowed to undo Biden’s student debt handouts, arguing that taxpayers will ultimately foot the bill for the president’s contributions to the $34 trillion national debt.
Fox News’ Remy Numa contributed to this report.