The Biden administration has provided $4.28 billion in student loan relief for 54,900 borrowers across the country who work in public service

The Biden administration announced on Friday the approval of $4.28 billion in additional student loan relief for 54,900 borrowers working in public service roles across the nation.

This latest round of relief raises the administration's total student loan forgiveness to approximately $180 billion, benefiting nearly 5 million Americans, according to the Education Department.

“Four years ago, the Biden-Harris Administration made a pledge to America’s teachers, service members, nurses, first responders, and other public servants that we would fix the broken Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, and I’m proud to say that we delivered,” said Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.

Some congressional Democrats have urged the administration to ensure all eligible borrowers receive relief before President Joe Biden leaves office.

“We’ve got to step up and say to Joe Biden, ‘You can’t go back to Delaware until you get this done, buddy,’” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the Senate Majority Whip, referring to borrowers who were defrauded by colleges.

Democrats also voiced concerns that the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump might not provide the same level of debt relief.

“During his first term, President Trump refused to deliver meaningful debt relief for borrowers. His administration ignored or denied borrower defense applications for years,” said Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) earlier this month. “President Trump’s negligence has caused harm and pain for people across the country.”

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, established by a bipartisan act of Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2007, forgives student loans for borrowers who make 10 years of payments while working in qualifying public service jobs such as teaching, nursing, or nonprofit work.

When the first group of borrowers became eligible for forgiveness in 2017, the program had a staggering 99 percent denial rate, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Borrowers were frequently denied because loan servicers failed to credit them for past payments or incorrectly told them they didn’t qualify.

In 2019, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), one of the country’s largest teachers' unions, filed a lawsuit against then-Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, accusing her agency of mismanaging the program. The lawsuit alleged that the Trump administration arbitrarily rejected forgiveness applications and failed to properly oversee loan servicers tasked with administering the program. The case was settled in 2021.