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.
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.
[ Student loan forgiveness: How do you know if you are eligible for debt cancellation? ]
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.”
[ Biden announces plan to forgive student loan debt, extend repayment pause ]
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 Jurisdiction | Estimated 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) |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 60,500 | 37,300 |
| Alabama | 588,000 | 404,900 |
| Arkansas | 365,600 | 269,000 |
| American Samoa | 2,000 | 1,500 |
| Arizona | 810,800 | 554,900 |
| California | 3,549,300 | 2,340,600 |
| Colodaro | 698,100 | 419,000 |
| Connecticut | 454,200 | 238,200 |
| District of Columbia | 105,600 | 60,300 |
| Delaware | 116,900 | 68,000 |
| Florida | 2,427,600 | 1,716,300 |
| Georgia | 1,506,100 | 1,039,100 |
| Guam | 6,900 | 4,500 |
| Hawaii | 111,500 | 65,700 |
| Iowa | 408,700 | 248,900 |
| Idaho | 201,400 | 144,900 |
| Illinois | 1,486,600 | 863,600 |
| Indiana | 856,400 | 555,500 |
| Kansas | 360,900 | 225,500 |
| Kentucky | 563,300 | 394,000 |
| Louisiana | 608,100 | 435,200 |
| Massachusetts | 813,000 | 401,200 |
| Maryland | 747,100 | 419,400 |
| Maine | 175,000 | 105,300 |
| Michigan | 1,316,000 | 849,300 |
| Minnesota | 729,700 | 416,300 |
| Missouri | 777,300 | 502,200 |
| Northern Mariana Islands | 1,400 | 1,000 |
| Mississippi | 417,200 | 316,400 |
| Montana | 120,400 | 78,600 |
| North Carolina | 1,190,500 | 785,500 |
| North Dakota | 82,000 | 49,600 |
| Nebraska | 232,100 | 136,000 |
| New Hampshire | 175,100 | 85,300 |
| New Jersey | 1,082,900 | 590,300 |
| New Mexico | 215,900 | 159,000 |
| Nevada | 315,800 | 216,900 |
| New York | 2,258,800 | 1,320,100 |
| Ohio | 1,677,800 | 1,085,700 |
| Oklahoma | 454,300 | 321,600 |
| Oregon | 499,000 | 322,100 |
| Pennsylvania | 1,717,300 | 988,800 |
| Puerto Rico | 275,500 | 241,900 |
| Rhode Island | 133,900 | 75,300 |
| South Carolina | 681,100 | 458,400 |
| South Dakota | 109,100 | 65,100 |
| Tennessee | 795,300 | 542,000 |
| Texas | 3,323,200 | 2,306,700 |
| Utah | 282,700 | 206,300 |
| Virginia | 965,100 | 566,500 |
| Virgin Islands | 7,800 | 4,700 |
| Vermont | 72,200 | 37,100 |
| Washington | 697,600 | 423,800 |
| Wisconsin | 685,100 | 412,700 |
| West Virginia | 213,100 | 145,000 |
| Wyoming | 49,600 | 31,400 |