What is the Higher Education Act?

After the Supreme Court struck down President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program Friday, he later announced a “new path” to provide debt relief grounded in the Higher Education Act.

“Just moments ago, (Education Secretary) Miguel Cardona took the first official step to initiate this new approach,” Biden said on Twitter on Friday afternoon.

Activists and politicians had been calling for the Biden Administration to use provisions in the Higher Education Act to cancel student debt even before the Supreme Court decision came down.

New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter that the Biden Administration should use the act to continue loan forgiveness “ASAP“, and other lawmakers such as Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, and Missouri Sen. Cori Bush, also a Democrat, took to social media as well.