华盛顿-学生贷款取消程序对于公共服务工作者来说，已经为100多万美国人提供了救济，而在两年前拜登政府更新该计划之前，只有7000人获得批准。
乔·拜登总统宣布了这一里程碑周四，他说他的政府恢复了对美国教师、消防员、护士和其他公务员的承诺。尽管他更广泛的学生贷款计划仍然存在，他还是庆祝了这一天被法院叫停跟随法律挑战共和党领导的州。
拜登在一份声明中说:“很长时间以来，政府未能兑现其承诺。”。“我们发誓要解决这个问题，由于我们政府的行动，现在超过100万名公共服务工作者获得了法律赋予他们的救济。”
美国政府表示，现在已经通过几个现有项目总共取消了大约500万借款人的1750亿美元贷款。公共服务贷款减免占了减免的最大份额，而其他人的贷款已经被取消收入驱动的支付计划通过1994年的一项规定，为那些被他们学校骗了.
公共服务贷款豁免计划创建于2007年，向大学毕业生承诺，在政府或非营利机构工作10年后，他们的联邦学生贷款余额将为零。但从2017年开始，绝大多数申请者都因为复杂且鲜为人知的资格规则而被拒。
政府问责局2018年的一份报告发现99%的申请者被拒绝通常是因为他们没有正确的贷款偿还计划，或者因为他们的还款通过延期或延期被暂时暂停——这些时间不计入10年的公共工作。
高教育部门的过失因为没有把规则讲清楚。
该计划是法律和政治斗争国会中的民主党人呼吁特朗普政府放松规则，坚持该计划的精神。时任教育部长的贝琪·德沃斯反驳说，她忠实地遵循了国会通过的规则。
拜登政府在2021年宣布该计划“破裂”，并提出了一个暂时弃权允许借款人在过去的延期或延期期间获得信贷，以及其他变化。一年后，教育部门更新了规则，以更永久地扩大资格。
从那以后，一波又一波借款人已经被批准取消，因为他们达到了10年的终点线。周四，又有6万人达到这一数字，总数超过100万。拜登上任时，在过去四年里只有7000名借款人获得了救助。
国会共和党人抨击拜登致力于免除贷款，而不是降低大学学费。
“拜登-哈里斯政府正在绕过国会，将研究生学位持有者和高收入借款人强行纳入一个他们从未有资格获得的项目，并迫使勤劳的美国人在这个过程中为此买单，”众议院教育和劳动力委员会主席弗吉尼亚·福克斯说。
总之，该计划现在已经取消了公共工作者740亿美元的贷款。
教育部长米格尔·卡多纳在一份声明中说:“我想向全美国的大学生传达一个信息，从事公共服务事业不仅是一种高尚的职业，也是十年内摆脱债务的可靠途径。”
这一里程碑受到了取消学生贷款支持者的欢迎，包括非营利组织“年轻无敌”的支持者。
该组织的执行董事克里斯汀·麦奎尔说:“这个项目对于让新员工担任公共服务的重要角色并奖励他们的贡献至关重要。”“在PSLF经历了多年几乎没有宽恕之后，100万借款人免于债务是一项巨大的成就。”
面对后法律挑战对于拜登自己的学生贷款计划，他的政府越来越多地将注意力转移到通过现有项目取消的创纪录的贷款金额上。
拜登竞选时承诺广泛取消学生贷款，但去年最高法院阻止了他的提议取消高达20，000美元对四千万美国人来说。拜登命令他的教育部使用不同的法律理由再次尝试，但在几个共和党州提出质疑后，密苏里州的一名法官暂时停止了该计划。
Biden administration has now canceled loans for more than 1 million public workers
WASHINGTON --A student loancancellation programfor public service workers has granted relief to more than 1 million Americans — up from just 7,000 who were approved before it was updated by the Biden administration two years ago.
President Joe Biden announced the milestoneon Thursday, saying his administration restored a promise to America’s teachers, firefighters, nurses and other public servants. He celebrated it even as his broader student loan plans remainhalted by courtsfollowinglegal challengesby Republican-led states.
“For too long, the government failed to live up to its commitments,” Biden said in a statement. “We vowed to fix that, and because of actions from our administration, now over 1 million public service workers have gotten the relief they are entitled to under the law.”
In total, the administration says it has now canceled $175 billion for about 5 million borrowers using several existing programs. Public Service Loan Forgiveness accounts for the largest share of that relief, while others have had their loans canceled throughincome-driven payment plansand through a 1994 rule offering relief to students who werecheated by their schools.
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was created in 2007, promising college graduates that the remainder of their federal student loans would be zeroed out after 10 years working in government or nonprofit jobs. But starting in 2017, the vast majority of applicants were rejected because of complicated and little-known eligibility rules.
A 2018 report from the Government Accountability Office found that99% of applicants were denied, often because they weren’t in the right loan repayment plan or because their payments had temporarily been paused through deferment or forbearance — periods that weren’t counted toward the 10 years of public work.
The GAOfaulted the Education Departmentfor failing to make the rules clear.
The program was the subject of legal andpolitical battles, with Democrats in Congress calling on the Trump administration to loosen the rules and uphold the spirit of the program. Betsy DeVos, the education secretary at the time, countered that she was faithfully following the rules passed by Congress.
Declaring that the program was “broken,” the Biden administration in 2021 offered atemporary waiverallowing borrowers to get credit for past periods of deferment or forbearance, among other changes. A year later, the Education Department updated the rules to expand eligibility more permanently.
Since then,waves of borrowershave been approved for cancellation as they reach the 10-year finish line. On Thursday, 60,000 more hit the mark, pushing the total past 1 million. When Biden took office, just 7,000 borrowers had been granted relief over the previous four years.
Republicans in Congress slammed Biden for working to forgive loans rather than make college less expensive.
“The Biden-Harris administration is circumventing Congress to shoehorn graduate degree holders and high-income borrowers into a program they were never eligible for and forcing hardworking Americans to pay for it in the process,” said Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee.
In all, the program has now erased $74 billion in loans for public workers.
“I want to send a message to college students across America that pursuing a career in public service is not only a noble calling but a reliable pathway to becoming debt-free within a decade,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement.
The milestone was applauded by supporters of student loan cancellation, including the nonprofit Young Invincibles.
“This program is essential to bring new workers into the important roles of public service and reward their contributions,” said Kristin McGuire, the group's executive director. “After years of very little forgiveness through PSLF, one million borrowers free from debt is a massive achievement.”
After facinglegal challengesto Biden's own student loan plans, his administration has increasingly shifted attention to the record sums of loan cancellation granted through existing programs.
Biden campaigned on a promise of widespread student loan cancellation, but last year the Supreme Courtblocked his proposalto cancelup to $20,000for 40 million Americans. Biden ordered his Education Department to try again using a different legal justification, but a judge in Missouri temporarily halted the plan after several Republican states challenged it.
