Biden takes steps to cancel debt for additional 30 million borrowers

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US President Joe Biden announced Wednesday his administration is taking steps to cancel student debt for an additional 30 million borrowers.

"Despite attempts led by Republican elected officials to block our efforts, we won’t stop fighting to provide relief to student loan borrowers, fix the broken student loan system, and help borrowers get out from under the burden of student debt," Biden said in a statement released by the White House.

The latest move builds upon the Biden administration’s existing work that has approved more than $168 billion in student loan relief for nearly 4.8 million borrowers through various actions, said the Education Department in a statement.

"If a borrower with only undergraduate loans has been in repayment for more than 20 years (received on or before July 1, 2005), they would be eligible for this relief. Borrowers with at least one graduate loan who have been in repayment for more than 25 years (received on or before July 1, 2000) would also be eligible," it added.

The president reiterated that higher education is "a ticket" to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity.

"I will never stop working to make higher education affordable and to make sure our Administration delivers for the American people," he added.