More student loans canceled in Biden’s final round of forgiveness before leaving office

The Biden administration says it is canceling federal student loans for another 55,000 public service workers through an existing forgiveness program

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is canceling federal student loans for another 55,000 workers through an existing program known as Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

The Education Department’s announcement Friday targets teachers, nurses, service members, law enforcement officials and others who’ve reached eligibility through the program, which promises to erase loans after 10 years of work in government or nonprofit jobs.

The $4.28 billion in relief is expected to be the final round of public service loan forgiveness before President Joe Biden leaves office in January. After failing to deliver his promise of widespread loan cancellation, Biden has instead focused on expanding loan relief through programs that were created before his presidency.

Under Biden, the Education Department loosened the rules for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which previously had a 99% rejection rate amid burdensome rules and widespread confusion over eligibility requirements.

With the latest round of relief, Biden has now canceled an unprecedented $180 billion in federal student loans through existing programs, covering 4.9 million Americans. That includes $78 billion for roughly 1 million borrowers through PSLF.

“From Day One of my Administration, I promised to make sure that higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportuni