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FACT BRIEF

Did the US forgive 1% of borrowers' student loan debt in 2021?

By USAFacts staff
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YES

The Biden administration relieved 563,000 borrowers' student loan debt in 2021 — 1.3% of total borrowers in the U.S.

The value of the cancelled loans was less than 1% of the dollar amount of student debt owed in the U.S. Nearly 43 million people collectively owe $1.59 trillion in student debt, according to data from the office of Federal Student Aid.

The Department of Education cancelled about $9.5 billion in student loans since early 2021. It also paused all student loan repayment, interest, and collections through the end of January 2022.

Most of the forgiven loans were held by disabled borrowers.

Students who were defrauded by failed for-profit schools are also eligible for federal student loan discharges. In addition, current and former active-duty service members qualify for a student loan interest waiver under a benefit created within the Higher Education Act. 

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Three-fourths of student loan forgiveness benefited disabled borrowers
See a full discussion of this at USAFacts
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Federal Student Aid Federal Student Loan Portfolio
US Department of Education Extended Closed School Discharge Will Provide 115K Borrowers from ITT Technical Institute More Than $1.1B in Loan Forgiveness
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
USAFacts
USAFacts is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan civic initiative making government data easy for all Americans to access and understand. USAFacts provides engaging visuals on data and trends in US spending, revenue, demographics, and policy outcomes to help Americans ground public debate in facts. Follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @USAFacts, and sign up for the data-driven newsletter at www.usafacts.org.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.