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Millions of Americans will receive relief from mounting debts.

This week, after a lengthy period of debate and deliberation, United States President Joe Biden finally made good on one of his original campaign promises by officially forgiving a large swath of student debt for millions of American citizens. To be specific, the Department of Education will cancel up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt per person. Those who received Pell Grants will be eligible for up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness.

“Both of these targeted actions are for families who need it the most,” the president said Wednesday.

There are caveats to this motion. Firstly, only Americans with an individual annual income of $125,000 or less qualify for relief, or $250,000 for married couples. Secondly, the amount of relief someone can receive is capped based on how much outstanding debt they currently have. Even with these restrictions, Biden estimates that 45% of student loan borrowers, roughly 20 million people, will have their debt completely wiped by this decision. For those who don’t have their debt wiped completely, it will still be a major benefit, especially since Biden also confirmed that the moratorium on student debt collection will be extended until the end of 2022.

Biden forgave $10K in student debt. People flooded TikTok with their reactions. https://t.co/cp4tHULWsJ pic.twitter.com/BVYRMA4D8s

— CNN (@CNN) August 25, 2022

“All of this means people can start finally to crawl out from under that mountain of debt,” Biden said. “To get on top of their rent and their utilities. To finally think about buying a home or starting a family or starting a business.”