Top Dems, activists call on Biden admin to dole out more stu­dent loan for­give­ness before term ends

Top Demo­c­ra­t­ic law­mak­ers and activists alike are call­ing on the Biden admin­is­tra­tion to ignore a fed­er­al injunc­tion and con­tin­ue wip­ing out stu­dent loan debt before the pres­i­dent leaves office. 

Sens. Dick Durbin, D‑Ill., and Ed Markey, D‑Mass, held a press con­fer­ence along­side a cohort of activist groups on Wednes­day from the nation’s cap­i­tal, call­ing on the Depart­ment of Edu­ca­tion to fin­ish grant­i­ng fed­er­al stu­dent loan for­give­ness for bor­row­ers it pledged to help. These bor­row­ers attend­ed either now-defunct or preda­to­ry for-prof­it col­leges. 

“I’m urg­ing the Biden admin­is­tra­tion in the clos­ing hours of their admin­is­tra­tion – the last sev­en weeks – come to the res­cue of these stu­dents as quick­ly as pos­si­ble,” Durbin said Mon­day from the Sen­ate floor.

In 2022 and 2023, Pres­i­dent Biden’s Edu­ca­tion Depart­ment announced it would grant stu­dent loan for­give­ness for 560,000 bor­row­ers who attend­ed Corinthi­an Col­leges Inc., as well as to 208,000 bor­row­ers who attend­ed ITT Tech­ni­cal Insti­tute. While most of those stu­dents had their loans ful­ly for­giv­en, accord­ing to the Project on Preda­to­ry Stu­dent Lend­ing (PPSL), at least 145,000 for­mer Corinthi­an stu­dents who were approved to have their loans for­giv­en still have not got­ten their promised relief.

BIDEN MAKES FINAL PUSH FOR STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS BEFORE TRUMP TAKES OFFICE

“The com­ing weeks are piv­otal, and we are focused on two things,” PPSL said in a state­ment last week, accord­ing to Forbes. “First, every­one who was promised relief, must receive their relief. Sec­ond, the Depart­ment must issue more group dis­charges for peo­ple who went to preda­to­ry schools.” Mean­while, the group’s senior direc­tor of pol­i­cy and advo­ca­cy told the Wash­ing­ton Post that the group “def­i­nite­ly want[s] to make sure the Biden admin­is­tra­tion fin­ish­es the work they start­ed.” 

On Wednes­day, Durbin and Markey will be joined by groups like PPSL to con­tin­ue urg­ing the Biden admin­is­tra­tion to max­i­mize stu­dent debt relief. The calls come even though the pro­gram, known as the “bor­row­er defense loan dis­charge pro­gram,” remains tied up in lit­i­ga­tion after a fed­er­al court issued an injunc­tion last year.

BIDEN PUSHES TO FINALIZE MORE STUDENT DEBT RELIEF BEFORE END OF TERM, INCLUDING FOR ‘FUTURE BORROWERS’

Accord­ing to the fed­er­al gov­ern­men­t’s stu­dent aid office, “the injunc­tion is effec­tive” until a final judg­ment in the case has been made. 

“The Depart­ment will not adju­di­cate any bor­row­er defense appli­ca­tions under the rule sub­ject to the injunc­tion unless and until the injunc­tion is lift­ed,” the agency asserts.

Nonethe­less, the agency still encour­aged bor­row­ers to con­tin­ue apply­ing for “bor­row­er defense relief,” adding that they would con­tin­ue to “adju­di­cate bor­row­er defense appli­ca­tions” while the case makes its way through the courts.

The Depart­ment of Edu­ca­tion did not pro­vide any on-the-record remarks in time for pub­li­ca­tion when reached for com­ment.  

Durbin and Markey, as well as PPSL, did not respond to inquiries from Fox News Dig­i­tal for pur­pos­es of this sto­ry.