President-elect Joe Biden is planning to provide student loan relief by asking Congress to forgive $10,000 in student debt per borrower. Biden will also seek to extend the pause on student loan repayments when he takes office this month, according to a press briefing from the Biden-Harris transition team on Friday.
“On day one, the president-elect will direct the Department of Education to extend the existing pause on student-loan payments and interest for millions of Americans with federal student loans,” David Kamin, a Biden aide, said during the briefing.
In addition to the student debt relief, Kamin said Biden will also expand income-based repayment programs and improve loan forgiveness programs for those with public service jobs.
Our transition team continues to lay the foundation for the Biden-Harris administration. Join our press briefing for the latest updates: https://t.co/Jm0t1RkINA
— Biden-Harris Presidential Transition (@Transition46) January 8, 2021
November data from the Pew Research Center found that 58 percent of federal loan borrowers who had paused payments said it would be somewhat or very difficult to afford their payments.
The student loan repayment freeze is currently set to cease on January 31. The Biden-Harris transition team did not specify how long the repayment pause extension will be.
