Senator Reverend Warnock, who has continuously pushed for meaningful student debt relief, celebrated the announcement from the Biden Administration that will provide an additional $7.4 billion in student debt relief

The additional relief will impact roughly 277,000 additional student borrowers, 11,500 of which live in Georgia

The Biden-Harris Administration has now approved $153 billion in relief for nearly 4.3 million Americans

The announcement follows Senator Revered Warnock’s questioning during a Senate Banking committee hearing underscoring the need for additional student debt relief

Senator Reverend Warnock: “These actions are putting real money back in working people’s pockets, and I’m going to keep pushing for the Administration to do even more student debt relief because this is what delivering for Georgians and Americans looks like”

Washington, D.C. – Today, following his years-long push for meaningful student debt relief, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) applauded the Biden-Harris Administration’s cancellation of an additional $7.4 billion in student loan debt, which will benefit roughly 277,000 total borrowers throughout the country, including an estimated 11,500 Georgians.

“With one hand tied behind his back, President Biden has still managed to provide meaningful student debt relief that’s not only good for our economy but is helping to close the racial wealth gap,” said Senator Warnock. “These actions are putting real money back in working people’s pockets, and I’m going to keep pushing for the Administration to do even more student debt relief because this is what delivering for Georgians and Americans looks like.”

Today’s announcement will benefit borrowers who signed up for President Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan and are eligible for its shortened time-to-forgiveness benefit as a result of fixes made by the Administration to income-driven repayment (IDR) forgiveness. This action comes as nearly 8 million borrowers have been helped by the SAVE plan.

Additionally, earlier in the week, Senator Warnock highlighted the role that one student loan service provider has played in blocking efforts to provide meaningful student debt relief during a Wednesday Senate Banking committee hearing focused on the Higher Education Loan Authority of the State of Missouri (MOHELA)—a student loan servicer that was complicit in opposing early student loan cancelation efforts and has since come under scrutiny for its failures to adequately facilitate borrowers’ return to repayment and its mismanagement of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

“I think it’s important for everyone to understand the role of one student loan contractor and the role they had in blocking debt relief for millions of Americans,” Senator Reverend Warnock stated during the hearing. “Of course, they’re not alone, others bear complicity in this, especially since the company (MOHELA) currently enjoys a contract right now with the Department of Education worth millions of taxpayer dollars. But this isn’t a history lesson for everyone, I’m concerned that the past is prologue.”

“Just yesterday the Missouri AG already launched another lawsuit. When I think of all the things we need attorney generals to be engaged in – protect their constituents – somehow Missouri’s Attorney General, wakes up in the morning, thinks that this is the great service to the people of Missouri,” Senator Reverend Warnock said in his closing line of questioning.

Senator Reverend Warnock has long advocated for the White House to address the student loan crisis and has continued pushing the Administration to deliver meaningful student debt relief. Last August, the Senator pushed President Biden to swiftly fulfill his promise to deliver targeted student debt cancellation to working and middle-class families by early 2024 following the misguided SCOTUS decision overturning the President’s student debt cancellation. Prior to that, in July 2023, the Senator urged the Education Secretary to take steps to provide assistance to incarcerated individuals burdened by student loan debt. 

Watch video of Senator Reverend Warnock’s questioning at Wednesday’s Senate Banking Committee hearing HERE