Biden Announces Cancellation of $7.4 Billion in Student Loan Debt

President Joe Biden announced the cancellation of an additional $7.4 billion in student loan debt on Friday.

Details: This round of debt cancellation will reportedly impact roughly 277,000 borrowers, including teachers, librarians, academics and public safety workers who have been making student loan payments for 10 years.

For Context: This brings the total sum of canceled student loan debt under the Biden Administration to $153 billion. Earlier this week, Biden announced a new student loan forgiveness plan aimed at providing debt relief to 30 million borrowers.

Key Quotes: “From day one of my Administration, I promised to fight to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity. I will never stop working to cancel student debt – no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stop us,” Speaking at a hearing on Wednesday, Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI) criticized the cancellation program, stating, “You’re incentivizing people to not pay back student loans and at the same time penalizing and forcing people who did to subsidize those who didn’t.”

How the Media Covered It: Outlets across the spectrum covered the announcement. Fox Business (Lean Right bias) referred to the forgiveness program as a “handout” and focused on how much the cancellation efforts will cost taxpayers. The New York Times (Lean Left bias) stated that Biden is “chipping away at student debt by fixing and streamlining existing programs that have been plagued by bureaucratic and other problems for years.”