An email from President Joe Biden made its way to more than 800,000 student loan borrowers on Tuesday who have had their debt wiped out by his administration's forgiveness efforts.

“For too long, the student loan program failed to live up to its commitments – and millions like you never got the relief you were owed because of errors and administrative failures,” reads the email. “I vowed to fix that, and I’m proud that my administration has delivered on that promise.”

What You Need To Know

  • An email, signed by President Joe Biden, informed more than 800,000 student loan borrowers that their debt has been forgiven

  • The email cites the more than $127 billion in debt cancellation for 3.6 million borrowers achieved by the administration's efforts

  • More than 5.5 milion people have signed up for a recently-created loan repayment plan, created shortly before pandemic-paused loan payments were due to restart in October

 

"I hope this relief gives you a little more breathing room," Biden wrote in the email. "I've heard from countless people who have told me that relieving the burden of student loan debt will allow them to support themselves and their families, or move forward with life plans they've put on hold."

The email reiterates the actions that the administration has taken so far to curtail student debt: $127 billion in loan debt cancellation for 3.6 million borrowers; a $900 increase to Pell Grants over the last two years, putting the top value of the grants at nearly $7,400 a year; changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program that seek to grant relief to federal borrowers that went into public work; and new debt relief rules.

The email also touts the SAVE Plan, a new income-driven student loan repayment plan that counts more than 5.5 million enrollees, according to the White House. The plan, which does not require borrowers earning less than $15 an hour to make payments and is said to save $1,000 annually on payments compared to other income-driven plans, was enacted in the run-up to repayments beginning again in October. 

"I'm proud that we were able to give borrowers like you the relief you earned," the email reads. "I promise you that as long as I am President, I will never stop fighting for hardworking American families."

The email also asks for recipients to “share [their] story about what this relief means to [them],” then

Loan repayments were on hold for more than three years owing to the pandemic, leading to confusion among borrowers and lenders, and subsequent punishments against those lenders by the federal government. On Oct. 30, the Department of Education withheld $7.2 million on payments to MOHELA, a student loan servicer, for failing to send billing statements on time to 2.5 million borrowers, and causing more than 800,000 borrowers to fall delinquent on their loans as a result.

"The actions we've taken send a strong message to all student loan servicers that we will not allow borrowers to suffer the consequences of gross servicing failures. We are committed to fixing our country’s broken student loan system, and that includes strengthening oversight and accountability and taking every step possible to improve outcomes for borrowers,” said Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.

The administration’s efforts to cut student loan debt redoubled after a June Supreme Court decision that struck down Biden’s plan to cancel about $400 million in loan debt.