- 100,000 student-loan borrowers are eligible for $6.2 billion in relief, per the Education Department.
- The relief is a result of October reforms to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
- The department estimated 550,000 borrowers will eventually benefit from the program's temporary changes.
Thousands of student-loan borrowers are on track to see their debt balances turn to zero following reforms to a major loan forgiveness program.
On Wednesday, CBS reported that President Joe Biden's Education Department announced 30,000 additional borrowers are eligible for loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which forgives student debt for public servants such as teachers and firefighters after ten years of qualifying payments. In October, the department announced reforms to the program given its previous 98% denial rate for applications. As a result of those reforms, 100,000 borrowers in total are now eligible for $6.2 billion in relief.
"Our nation's public service workers must be able to rely on the promise of Public Service Loan Forgiveness. The Biden-Harris administration is delivering on that promise by helping more and more eligible borrowers get their loan balances forgiven," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement. "The PSLF announcement made today means more of our dedicated teachers, nurses, first responders, servicemembers, and many other public service workers will get meaningful relief."
CNN reported that not all eligible borrowers have been notified of their debt relief yet.
Last year, the department implemented a limited-time waiver, through October, that would allow borrowers to count payments from any federal-loan programs or repayment plans toward loan forgiveness through PSLF, including programs and plans that were not previously eligible. It estimated at the time that the waiver alone would bring 550,000 borrowers closer to student-debt relief automatically. Per Wednesday's announcement, 100,000 of those borrowers are already there.
This follows a January data release that found 70,000 borrowers had gotten their student-debt wiped out through PSLF since October, which Under Secretary James Kvaal said at the time was "4x the previous total."
To be sure, the waiver is not effective for everyone and some borrowers who should qualify from relief are continuing to be denied. Insider previously spoke to a borrower who has worked in public service for two decades, has repeatedly been denied loan forgiveness, and is waiting to see if the reforms will finally benefit her.
Given the high denial rate for PSLF, Biden campaigned on reforming the program and ensuring public servants, like teachers and nonprofit workers, can access the student-loan relief they were promised. Insider previously reported on how borrowers know if they might be eligible for relief, and Federal Student Aid has posted updated guidance, as well, on options borrowers have while loan payments are on pause.