Biden has now canceled student debt for over 1 million borrowers

President Joe Biden marked a new milestone in his effort to forgive student loans, as the total number of public servants who have received relief exceeded 1 million since he took office.

The administration on Thursday announced that it has approved $4.5 billion in student-debt cancellation for around 60,000 of the workers. While court challenges have left other debt-related programs in limbo, these borrowers have benefited from reforms to the government’s public service loan forgiveness program, which was previously riddled by poor management and low acceptance rates.

“Public servants saw their applications fall victim to fine-print technicalities, red tape, accounting errors and a wall of indifference from the Trump administration,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told reporters. “The process is fixed and will continue providing forgiveness to public servants for years to come.”

More than $73 billion in loans have been forgiven through the 2007 initiative under Biden, according to an Education Department press release. Borrowers eligible for the latest round of relief are expected to see their debt cleared in the coming days and weeks.

Easing the burden of student debt was a key promise of Biden’s 2020 campaign, but he hit several legal obstacles after taking office. The Supreme Court last year rejected his far-reaching proposal to slashing debt for more than 40 million people, and the president’s alternative was recently blocked in federal court — at least temporarily.

A separate initiative called the “SAVE plan” was also temporarily halted by a federal appeals court in August. That proposal was an income-driven repayment plan that would allow some low-income borrowers to make zero-dollar monthly payments and would cancel debt after 10 years of repayment.

Legal challenges could extend beyond November’s presidential election. The winner — former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris — could decide the fate of such programs, since their administration would have the power to either defend or undo the efforts.

“I will continue our work to lower costs, make higher education more affordable, and relieve the burden of student debt,” Harris, the Democratic nominee, said in a statement released Thursday. “I am fully committed to doing what is necessary to build an economy that works for every American.”

Trump, the Republican nominee, has criticized the administration’s push to forgive student debt, but he hasn’t detailed any plans to deal with existing loans.