The United States will cancel $6-billion in student loans for 200,000 borrowers who claimed they were defrauded by their colleges, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden said.
Student debt cancellation has become a priority for many liberals and one that could shore up popularity with younger and more highly-educated voters, who lean Democratic, before November’s midterm congressional elections.The loans of those borrowers will be fully eliminated, and any payments they made will be refunded, according to the court filing of the settlement deal.
In a statement on Thursday, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona described the settlement as “fair and equitable for all parties” and said it will deliver “billions of dollars of automatic relief” to the 200,000 borrowers. The Biden administration had previously approved $25-billion in student debt forgiveness for about 1.3 million borrowers.