WASHINGTON.- El US President Joe Biden said Thursday he is expanding his student loan forgiveness program by canceling the loans of another 35,000 Americans, just months before the election in which he seeks re-election.
The latest measure, which amounts to $1.2 billion in student debt, brings to 4.76 million the number of people who benefited from “debt relief actions,” it said in a statement.
Borrowers, who will receive an average of $35,000 in debt forgiveness, include teachers, nurses, police officers and first responders.
The announcement came on the last day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Donald Trump will be officially named the Republican candidate for the November elections.
Biden vowed Thursday to “never stop working to make higher education affordable,” despite resistance from Republican lawmakers.
Earlier this year, Biden unveiled new plans to reduce student loan debt for tens of millions of Americans in an attempt to win over young voters.
He did so after the conservative-majority Supreme Court last year struck down the Democrat’s proposals to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars of debt.
Last month it cancelled the debt of 160,000 people and earlier this year it announced student debt relief for another 150,000.
Source: With information from AP