July 18, 2023

Warren Celebrates Automatic Student Debt Cancelation for Over 12,000 People in Massachusetts

As a result of Warren’s efforts to fix Income-Driven Repayment Plans, nearly $600 million dollars of student debt in Massachusetts will be canceled for people who have paid their loans for more than 20 years. 

Boston, MA - United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released the following statement following the U.S. Department of Education’s announcement that due to fixes of Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plans implemented by the Biden-Harris Administration, 12,530 people in Massachusetts are eligible for automatic student debt relief totaling $592 million dollars. : 

“I have worked for years to fix our broken student loan system and now over 12,000 people in Massachusetts who have been drowning in student debt will receive automatic relief. Hard working folks who have made payments for more than 20 years will save a combined nearly $600 million dollars thanks to these hard fought changes. That’s real money staying in people's pockets for a downpayment on a home or to save for retirement – and another example of what it looks like when our government is on the side of working people. I’m staying in this fight all the way to keep delivering student debt cancellation for more Americans.”

Senator Warren is one of the nation’s leading voices for student loan borrowers and has a long track record of conducting oversight of federal student loan servicers:

  • Today, Senator Warren sent a letter to the Department of Education raising concerns ahead of the expiration of the student loan payment pause over plans to resume collecting on student loans and sharing recommendations to revamp the department’s student debt collection program.
  • In April 2023, Senator Warren led 16 senators in sending a letter to the Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies requesting the committee provide $2.7 billion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 to fund the Office of Federal Student Aid
  • In February 2023, Senator Warren released a new report based on her investigation into how efforts by Republican officials and special interests to block the President’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt would affect Americans.
  • In October 2022, Senator Warren and Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) visited communities across Massachusetts to celebrate the Biden administration’s student debt cancellation plan and help residents sign up for student loan relief. 
  • In September 2022, Senator Warren sent a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) urging DOJ to issue and implement updated student debt bankruptcy guidance without delay following the Biden-Harris administration’s historic decision to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for up to 43 million borrowers and overhaul the student loan system.
  • Senator Warren, along with Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Senator Brown and Representatives Pramila Jaypal (D-Wash.) and Mark Takano (D-Calif.), urged Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, urging the Department of Education (ED) to swiftly discharge the loans of borrowers defrauded by predatory for-profit colleges and universities, including those operated by Corinthian College. 
  • Senator Warren, along with Senators Brown, Blumenthal, Smith, and Van Hollen sent a letter to Maximus, the company that is assuming Navient’s federal student loans servicing contract, questioning its troubling history and seeking assurances that borrowers will receive appropriate services and protections during the transition. 
  • On February 4, 2021, Senator Warren, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) led their colleagues in reintroducing their bicameral resolution outlining a bold plan for President Biden to tackle the student loan debt crisis by using existing authority under the Higher Education Act to cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt for Federal student loan borrowers.

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