News Biden ‘Weeks’ From Student Loan Forgiveness Decision Broad forgiveness of federal loans is possible—but not $50,000 worth, Biden said By Diccon Hyatt Updated on May 5, 2022 Fact checked by Helen Reis Fact checked by Helen Reis Helen is the senior news editor for The Balance and a veteran journalist with more than 17 years of experience, mostly in business and finance news. She is passionate about making complicated topics easy for everyone to understand and compulsive about accuracy and transparency. learn about our editorial policies Photo: Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images The president on Thursday signaled a decision on whether to broadly forgive a certain amount of student loan debt was imminent, saying he would make an announcement in the next couple of weeks. “I am considering dealing with some debt reduction,” President Joe Biden said at a White House briefing. “I’ll have an answer on that in the next couple of weeks.” Tens of millions of borrowers with federal student loans have been waiting for two years to hear whether a pandemic-triggered freeze on payment obligations would be followed by an actual cancellation of at least some of every borrower’s outstanding balance. Thursday’s comments confirm his latest thinking involves invoking his executive authority to cancel student debt owed to the federal government, rather than trying to get a bill passed through Congress, where even his fellow Democrats in the evenly divided Senate haven’t always supported his proposals. Biden didn’t go into any detail about the plans he was considering except to say that he had ruled out forgiving $50,000 per borrower, as some progressive lawmakers have asked for. While running for president, he proposed forgiving at least $10,000 of debt per borrower. Have a question, comment, or story to share? You can reach Diccon at dhyatt@thebalance.com. Want to read more content like this? Sign up for The Balance’s newsletter for daily insights, analysis, and financial tips, all delivered straight to your inbox every morning! Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit Sources The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. The White House. “Remarks by President Biden on the Request to Congress for Additional Funding to Support Ukraine.” Twitter. “@joebiden, March 22, 2020.”