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Student debt relief: White House projects half of 40M eligible borrowers could see clean slates

WASHINGTON — More than 40 million borrowers are eligible to have at least $10,000 of their outstanding student debt forgiven under President Joe Biden’s relief program, according to White House projections released Tuesday.

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Nearly half those borrowers, however, could see their entire remaining balances wiped clean, according to a fact sheet that provided a state-by-state breakdown of the number of eligible borrowers.

Per the debt relief plan, the U.S. Department of Education will cancel up to $20,000 worth of debt for Pell Grant recipients and $10,000 worth of debt for those who did not receive Pell Grants, officials said. Borrowers who make more than $125,000 individually or $250,000 as a household are not eligible for the debt cancellation, according to authorities.

California, with more than 3.5 million projected eligible borrowers, Texas with more than 3.3 million, and Florida, with more than 2.4 million, are projected to receive the most relief funds, according to Forbes.

(See the complete state-by-state breakdown below this article.)

Biden unveiled the plan Aug. 24, intended, he said, to assist “families who need it the most: working- and middle-class people.”

According to the fact sheet issued Tuesday, nearly 90% of relief dollars will go to borrowers earning less than $75,000 per year, with no assistance offered to “any individual or household in the top 5% of incomes in the United States.”

“By targeting relief to borrowers with the highest economic need, the Administration’s actions are also likely to help narrow the racial wealth gap,” the fact sheet stated, noting that nearly 71% of Black undergraduate borrowers are Pell Grant recipients, and 65% of Latino undergraduate borrowers are Pell Grant recipients.

Pell Grants are a form of federal financial aid that borrowers are not required to pay back.

Per Forbes: “Government-held federal student loans, including all Direct loans and federally-managed FFEL loans, can qualify, including graduate student loans and Parent PLUS loans. Commercially-held FFEL loans do not qualify for loan forgiveness, but the Education Department is working on possible solutions. Borrowers can also consider consolidating commercially-held FFEL loans into a Direct consolidation loan to qualify (although borrowers must decide whether or not that makes sense, based on their own unique circumstances).”

According to a U.S. Department of Education analysis, the following data reflects the estimated number of borrowers in each state eligible for student debt relief, as well as the estimated number of Pell Grant borrowers eligible for as much as $20,000 in relief:

State or JurisdictionEstimated Number of Borrowers
Eligible for Student Debt Relief
(rounded to the nearest hundred)
Estimated Number of Pell Borrowers
Eligible for Student Debt Relief
(rounded to the nearest hundred)
Alaska60,50037,300
Alabama588,000404,900
Arkansas365,600269,000
American Samoa2,0001,500
Arizona810,800554,900
California3,549,3002,340,600
Colodaro698,100419,000
Connecticut454,200238,200
District of Columbia105,60060,300
Delaware116,90068,000
Florida2,427,6001,716,300
Georgia1,506,1001,039,100
Guam6,9004,500
Hawaii111,50065,700
Iowa408,700248,900
Idaho201,400144,900
Illinois1,486,600863,600
Indiana856,400555,500
Kansas360,900225,500
Kentucky563,300394,000
Louisiana608,100435,200
Massachusetts813,000401,200
Maryland747,100419,400
Maine175,000105,300
Michigan1,316,000849,300
Minnesota729,700416,300
Missouri777,300502,200
Northern Mariana Islands1,4001,000
Mississippi417,200316,400
Montana120,40078,600
North Carolina1,190,500785,500
North Dakota82,00049,600
Nebraska232,100136,000
New Hampshire175,10085,300
New Jersey1,082,900590,300
New Mexico215,900159,000
Nevada315,800216,900
New York2,258,8001,320,100
Ohio1,677,8001,085,700
Oklahoma454,300321,600
Oregon499,000322,100
Pennsylvania1,717,300988,800
Puerto Rico275,500241,900
Rhode Island133,90075,300
South Carolina681,100458,400
South Dakota109,10065,100
Tennessee795,300542,000
Texas3,323,2002,306,700
Utah282,700206,300
Virginia965,100566,500
Virgin Islands7,8004,700
Vermont72,20037,100
Washington697,600423,800
Wisconsin685,100412,700
West Virginia213,100145,000
Wyoming49,60031,400