Biden Admin to Eliminate $5.8 Billion in Federal Student Debt for Borrowers With Disabilities

Biden Admin to Eliminate $5.8 Billion in Federal Student Debt for Borrowers With Disabilities
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona answers questions during the daily briefing at the White House on Aug. 5, 2021. Win McNamee/Getty Images
Bill Pan
Updated:

The Biden administration on Thursday said it will discharge more than $5.8 billion in student loans, a move that aims to help ease the financial burden on hundreds of thousands of borrowers who have permanent disabilities.

According to the announcement by the Department of Education, those classified as totally and permanently disabled (TPD) by the Social Security Administration (SSA) will no longer have to file an application for student loan debt relief. Instead, the department will automatically erase loans for borrowers with TPDs by matching their records with the SSA database every quarter, starting from September.