CBS News
Biden administration forgives $6 billion in student debt. Here’s who qualifies for forgiveness.
The Biden administration on Thursday said it is forgiving almost $6 billion in student debt for 77,700 borrowers, with those recipients scheduled to receive an email from President Joe Biden alerting them about their debt cancellation.
The people who qualify for the latest round of student loan forgiveness are public service employees, such as teachers, nurses, social workers and firefighters, the White House said in a statement. On a per-person basis, the forgiveness amounts to about $77,000 per person.
Ever since the Supreme Court last year invalidated the Biden administration’s plan for broad-based student loan forgiveness, the Biden administration has sought to rely on existing and new loan repayment plans to provide debt relief to almost 4 million people. Americans are carrying about $1.77 trillion in student debt, a financial burden that some college grads say has made it tougher to achieve financial milestones like buying a home.
The Biden administration has sought to fix problems in the nation’s student loan repayment system by rolling out a new program called SAVE and making it easier for public servants to get their debt erased.
“For too long, our nation’s teachers, nurses, social workers, firefighters and other public servants faced logistical troubles and trapdoors when they tried to access the debt relief they were entitled to under the law,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “With this announcement, the Biden-Harris Administration is showing how we’re taking further steps not only to fix those trapdoors, but also to expand opportunity to many more Americans.”
Who qualifies for student loan forgiveness?
The Biden administration said 77,700 borrowers who are enrolled in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program will receive debt forgiveness.
Those who are receiving debt forgiveness include public servants who enrolled in the Biden administration’s limited PSLF waiver, which allows public sector workers who haven’t previously qualified for loan relief to receive credit for past repayments, the administration said.
What were the prior problems with the PSLF program?
The PSLF program, which has been around since 2007, had the lofty goal of forgiving the student debt of Americans who work in public sector jobs, such as teachers or government employees, for at least 10 years.
But its notoriously Byzantine regulations and misleading guidance from some loan-servicing companies meant that few public servants managed to get debt relief. In fact, only 7,000 people received forgiveness through the PSLF prior to the Biden administration.
Since the White House made changes to PSLF, about 871,000 Americans have received student loan forgiveness through the program, the Biden administration said.
How will I know if I got PSLF debt forgiveness?
The 77,700 borrowers who qualify will receive a letter from President Biden next week congratulating them on their relief.
I’m enrolled in PSLF. Will I get loan forgiveness, too?
Another 380,000 people enrolled in PSLF will receive an email from Biden next week letting them know they are within one to two years of qualifying for debt forgiveness through the program.
According to a sample email, Biden will congratulate them and urge them to continue working in public service to qualify for forgiveness. One email reads, “I hope you continue the important work of serving your community — and if you do, in less a year you could get your remaining student loans forgiven through Public Service Loan Forgiveness.”
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.