U.S. cancels $2 billion in student loans, after earlier writes offs

WASHINGTON D.C.: Earlier this month, the federal Education Department announced it is canceling another round of student loan payments, adding that those eligible are now being notified via email.

The new round will cancel loans worth $2 billion, reported Yahoo Money.

According to Fortune, the initiative is part of an overhaul of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which grants loan relief to teachers, social workers, firefighters and other public servants.

According to NPR, those eligible will have their loans forgiven after 10 years of making payments, but poor communication and paperwork mistakes have left many unable to benefit.

In addition to granting immediate relief to many borrowers, the Education Department also modified the application process for the program to make it easier for people to apply.

In a tweet, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said some 30,000 people will benefit from the current round of write offs, including members of the military and veterans.

Fortune reported that President Joe Biden announced plans to write off over $11 billion in student loan debt since taking office, adding that the Education Department previously announced it would forgive $5.8 billion in student loan debt for 323,000 borrowers with total and permanent disabilities that prevent them from working.

The department also granted relief to borrowers who attended defunct schools that used deceptive or illegal practices.

The current round of write offs benefited over 188,000 people with debt totaling $2.6 billion.

However, Fortune noted that most borrowers will still not see any relief, as the many rounds of write offs represent a fraction of overall student loan debt in the U.S., totaling some $1.8 trillion held by 43 million people.