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Biden is drawing closer to a decision on student-debt forgiveness. Here’s everything he’s done so far to address the $1.7 trillion crisis.

12 min readJun 7, 2021

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From extending the student-loan payment pause to cancelling student debt for some borrowers, here’s everything Biden has done on student debt to date.

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A graduate.
Since President Joe Biden took office, he has taken a number of actions to address the $1.7 trillion student debt crisis. Photo: Shutterstock.com

By Ayelet Sheffey

Forty-five million Americans have a $1.7 trillion student-debt burden in the country. And many of them, alongside Democrats and advocates, want President Joe Biden to forgive $50,000 of their debt.

He hasn’t done that yet, but the president has taken steps to lessen the burden and provide relief during the pandemic.

As one of his first actions in office, Biden extended the pause on student-loan payments, coupled with zero growth in interest, to ensure borrowers suffering financially would not have to worry about paying off their loans.

Since then, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has cancelled billions in student debt for borrowers with disabilities and borrowers defrauded by for-profit schools. He’s also started conducting reviews of student loan forgiveness programs that don’t work as they should.

But Democrats want Biden to do more.

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