Biden's Plan B on student loan forgiveness relies on Higher Education Act: What to know

President Joe Biden is launching another effort to forgive at least some federal student loan debt after the Supreme Court last week struck down his initial proposal to wipe away as much as $20,000 for borrowers.

The White House's new approach is based on the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, which provides government-backed student loans and grants the U.S. Education Department the ability to "compromise, waive or release loans."

Further details will be revealed during a rulemaking process: Implementing any changes will take multiple steps over months, the National Economic Council's deputy director, Bharat Ramamurti, told reporters on Friday.

It's unclear if any debt cancellation offered through HEA would be of a similar scope and scale as Biden's first program, which the White House said covered 43 million borrowers -- with 20 million expected to see their student loans entirely erased.