Over 16M approved for US student loan forgiveness, says White House

ISTANBUL

Over 16 million people's applications were fully approved for US President Joe Biden's federal student loan forgiveness program, the White House said in a statement on Friday.

Some 26 million people in all 50 American states applied or were automatically eligible for one-time student debt relief under the Biden administration's debt relief program, it added.

The applications of those who were approved by the Education Department were sent to loan services.

In August, the Biden administration announced a plan to provide up to $20,000 in debt relief for borrowers earning less than $125,000 annually.

"Nearly 90% of the benefits of the relief going to out-of-school borrowers would go to those earning less than $75,000 per year," the White House said.

However, millions of those borrowers "could be experiencing the benefits of that relief today – were it not for lawsuits brought on by elected officials in some of their own states," it added.

As some Republican lawmakers challenged the plan, the Biden administration in November had to halt applications for the program through its portal after a federal judge in Texas rejected Biden's August executive order.

"In this country, we are not ruled by an all-powerful executive with a pen and a phone," Judge Mark Pittman of the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas wrote in his decision.

The program is on hold until a decision by the US Supreme Court, which will start hearing arguments on Feb. 28.