Move will forgive debt for people who borrow $12,000 or less and have made payments for at least 10 years.
US President Joe Biden said his administration is canceling $1.2 billion worth of student loans for about 153,000 people.
Biden, who is campaigning in California for three days, made the announcement Wednesday as part of a new repayment plan that offers a faster path to pardon.
U.S. leaders last year vowed to find another path to debt relief after the Supreme Court blocked a sweeping plan to forgive $430 billion in student loan debt.
“A college degree is still a ticket to a better life, but that ticket is too expensive,” Biden said in a statement.
“And too many Americans still take on unsustainable debt in exchange for a college degree.”
The latest announcement is for people enrolled in the repayment program known as Save for a Valuable Education (SAVE), which allows people to borrow less than $12,000 and repay it over at least 10 years. Targeted.
The move “particularly helps community college and other small loan borrowers, putting many students on track to get out of their student loans faster than ever before,” the White House said.
The Biden administration on Wednesday began sending email notifications to some borrowers who benefit from the SAVE program.
The cancellations were originally scheduled to begin in July, but the government announced last month that they would be ready in February, about six months earlier than planned.
The first round of forgiveness under the SAVE plan will eliminate $1.2 billion in loans.
Borrowers will receive an email from Biden with a message saying, “You qualify for early loan forgiveness under my administration's SAVE plan, so your federal student loans will be fully or partially forgiven.'' It turns out.
“By easing the burden of student loan debt, you can help support yourself and your family, buy your first home, start a small business, and make life plans you've put on hold,” Biden said in an email to borrowers. It moves the world forward.”
More than 7.5 million people have enrolled in new repayment plans.
Left-leaning progressive voters and young voters, whose support Biden needs to win re-election in November, are calling for widespread student loan forgiveness. Republicans largely oppose such action.
The White House announced that the Biden administration has canceled about $138 billion in student loans for about 3.9 million people through executive action.