for 74,000 borrowers.
It's the latest# batch of student debt cancellations## after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down# his larger forgiveness plan last year.
John Yang has our update# on the president's efforts.
JOHN YANG: Geoff, today's move# will provide relief to nurses,## teachers and other public service employees who# have been workin includes forgiveness for some borrowers who# have been making loan repayments for 20 years,## but never got the relief they were# entitled to under existing programs.
And earlier this week, the administration# said it will move up the start date of a## new student loan repayment program from July to# February.
So far, the Biden administration say it's erased more than $130 billion# in loans for 3.7 million borrowers.
Danielle Douglas-Gabriel covers the economics# of higher education for The Washington Post.
Danielle, two announcements today, one# a program for public service workers,## another for people who have been repaying# their student loans for 20 years,## but haven't gotten the benefits that they# were entitled to.
How does that work?
DANIELLE DOUGLAS-GABRIEL,# The Washington Post: Sure.
programs.
These are programs that allow you# to pay based on your -- a portion of your## discretionary earnings.
This is supposed to# allow you to have more affordable payments,## make it easier for folks to manage their loans.
Now, the promise as a part of these programs# is, after you can get forgiveness for whatever your# balance is on these loans.
Unfortunately,## the Education Department for many years# weren't keeping count of how many people## actually were making payments# on those loans during that time.
So there were hundreds of thousands of people# for whom they'd many more years than that and never received this# benefit.
So, the Biden administration came in and## said, we're going to play cleanup, essentially.# They extended these initiatives that made it## a lot easier for people who had been paying# for decades to have their loan forgiveness.
And the news of this today is what# we're seeing as a result of this effort.
JOHN YANG: And also the program that they're# moving up the start date from July to February,## what does it do and how significant is it?
DANIELLE DOUGLAS-GABRIEL: This is all rooted## in Biden's latest And one of the cool features of this plan# is that, if you borrowed less than $12,000## originally and had been making payments for# 10 years, whatever your remaining balance## is would be forgiven.
So the Department# of Education was supposed to put that## particular feature into effect in July, but# they were able to move it up to February.
They are not certain exactly how many people# will benefit from this, but do keep in mind,## there are a lot of people who borrowed less than# $10,000 who owe far more than that because of the## way interest accumulated on their loans.
And# a lot of those people tend to be at the center## of where we see the most pain in student loan# repayments, meaning the people who default the## most, people who are delinquent on their loans,# oftentimes because they started college, never## finished and got the credential needed to get the# kind of work to make it easy to repay the debt.
JOHN YANG: Talk about the pain of# student loans.
This is an election## year.
Polls show that voters under# 45 think thi loan forgiveness is a big issue.
And they# also feel that Biden isn't doing enough.
Is this piecemeal approach that the president's# taking now that the Supreme Court struck down## his bigger program, is this enough for# borrowers?
Are they satisfied with this?
DANIELLE DOUGLAS-GABRIEL: We're not# seeing that, which I find striking, right?
I mean, relative to any other administration in# rece the most amount of student debt.
But because# of the failed promise of this widespread debt## relief that would have touched 40 million people,# a lot of borrowers still aren't fully satisfied.
Certainly, the ones who are benefiting# from these incremental approaches,## they're pretty happy right now, because they don't# have to make pay vast majority, they're still trying to push for# something that may not quite happen.
I mean,## to be fair, the Biden administration# is still fighting for more expansive## loan forgiveness through this negotiated# rulemaking process that's still under way.
But it's not what folks were hoping for.
And it's## certainly not what he -- I think many# people thought he could have delivered.
JOHN YANG: We go from loan repayment# to getting the student loans.
The Biden administration also rolled out the# new Free Application for al so known as FAFSA.
They did that at the# beginning of the year.
How's it going?
DANIELLE DOUGLAS-GABRIEL: A# lot better than it started.## I think we have more than a million# peop which is great.
A lot of the technical# troubles that people experienced on January 1,## December 31 have largely dissipated, from# what I'm hearing from folks on the ground.
But there are still some technical issues# that some applicants are facing when their## parents try to get a FAFSA I.D., especially if# they don't have Social Security numbers.
This## was a feature that was supposed to make# it easier for a wider swathe of folks,## but it hasn't fully worked# out, from what I'm hearing.
I think the challenge is, filling out the form# is one step.
There are other steps and all of those delays, it kind# of has a domino effect.
And so a## lot of folks in financial aid are# waiting to see how this plays out.
JOHN YANG: And financial aid has to# decide what they can offer students,## and students have to figure out# where they can afford to go.
But this is getting pushed back?
DANIELLE DOUGLAS-GABRIEL: Yes, so here's# the trouble, i everyone can submit their application now, the# department may not be able to co lleges that information and that data until# the end of this month, if not potentially later.
And that creates a much shorter timeline for# financial aid officers at schools to be able## to provide award packages.
It also creates the# complication of missing potential state and other## outside scholarship deadlines that require# the FAFSA in order to apply for that money.
So everyone is really nervous about,# how will students and families be able## to get this information to make an# educated decision about where to go,## where they can afford to go, if# we have this shorter timeline?
JOHN YANG: Danielle Douglas-Gabriel of# The Washington Post, thank you very much.
DANIELLE DOUGLAS-GABRIEL: Thank you.
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