WASHINGTON – Rep. Grijalva issues the following statement after President Biden announced an additional 125,000 Americans have been approved for $9 billion in student  debt relief.                                                       

“President Biden continues to build on his promise to fight for full student debt cancellation. I’ve heard so many stories from across our district about the weight of these student loans. They’re keeping people from starting families, buying a home, building a business, or just being able to make ends meet. Today’s announcement gives more than 11,000  Arizonans a huge sigh of relief. Now we need Congress, and especially my Republican colleagues, to get serious about a long-term solution.”

Today’s announcement brings the total approved debt cancellation by the Biden-Harris Administration to $127 billion for nearly 3.6 million Americans.

The Biden-Harris Administration is announcing it has approved:

• $5.2 billion in additional debt relief for 53,000 borrowers under Public Service Loan Forgiveness programs.
• Nearly $2.8 billion in new debt relief for nearly 51,000 borrowers through fixes to income-driven repayment. These are borrowers who made 20 years or more of payments but never got the relief they were entitled to.
• $1.2 billion for nearly 22,000 borrowers who have a total or permanent disability who have been identified and approved for discharge through a data match with the Social Security Administration.

The Department of Education is also releasing state-by-state totals of debt relief approved under the Biden-Harris Administration through fixes to IDR and Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Today’s announcement builds on all that the Biden-Harris Administration has done to make college more affordable and ensure that student loans aren’t a barrier to opportunity for students and families, including:

• Securing the largest increase to Pell Grants in a decade
• Launching the most affordable repayment plan ever – SAVE
• Finalizing new rules to protect borrowers from career programs that leave graduates with unaffordable debts
• Pursuing an alternative path to debt relief through negotiated rulemaking under the Higher Education Act