Should Biden have forgiven more student debt?

President Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son with seven weeks left in his term prompted some Americans to ask him to "pardon” their student debt, but forgiving student loans isn’t so simple.

Americans racked up a total of $1.6 trillion in student loans as of June 2024, according to Pew Research Center. One in 4 adults under 40 had student loan debt, preventing many from buying homes, starting families and saving money, the study found. Biden took several actions to address the issue during his four years in office but has faced multiple challenges. He succeeded in enacting more than $166 billion in forgiveness for about 4.4 million borrowers, according to recent data from the U.S. Department of Education.

In October, the department said the Biden administration approved additional forgiveness, bringing the total relief to $175 billion in student debt relief for nearly 5 million borrowers. Some are still pushing Biden to broaden that relief to more financially strapped people before he leaves office in January.

On Wednesday, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., sent a letter signed by 72 of their colleagues to Biden's secretary of education, calling on the department to discharge loan debt for "students who were defrauded by predatory schools."

"Under the previous Trump Administration, borrowers’ applications were allowed to languish for years. If their application was reviewed, borrowers often were denied and granted no relief," the lawmakers wrote. "It is imperative that the Department provide immediate relief to borrowers."

Toward the end of President-elect Donald Trump’s first term amid the widening COVID-19 pandemic, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos paused student loan payments empowered by the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act, or Heroes Act, which gave Americans a reprieve during the pandemic. When Biden took office, his administration extended temporary relief to borrowers under the same authority.

But, facing pressure from advocacy groups and constituents in debt, Biden opted to go further. He sought ways to make the relief permanent rather than instructing borrowers to resume payments. Not all of these efforts panned out. Here is a look at the ways Biden tried to forgive federal student loans and the hurdles he faced while in office:

More: You may not need that student loan after all. Here's the latest college tuition trend.

Supreme Court reacts to Biden's debt forgiveness plan

In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court shut down the assertion by Biden’s education secretary, Miguel Cardona, that the Heroes Act granted him the authority to cancel $430 billion in student loan debt.

The court’s conservative majority said the Biden administration was overreaching when it extended full pandemic-era relief using a law that temporarily paused loan payments in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the U.S. military action that followed. That law was later expanded to protect borrowers affected by wars and national emergencies.

The Biden administration argued and dissenting liberal Supreme Court Justices agreed Cardona had the authority to update the law, as it is modifiable. If enacted, the law would have eliminated up to $20,000 in student loan debt for millions of Americans.

Chief Justice John Roberts, who authored the court’s majority opinion, said that while the education secretary is granted the ability to “modify” existing provisions in the law, it's unlikely Congress intended to authorize a sweeping loan cancellation program when it passed the act.

“The authority to ‘modify’ statutes and regulations" allows the secretary to "make modest adjustments and additions to existing provisions, not transform them,” Roberts wrote.

The majority ruling in Biden v. Nebraska stopped the president's plan for $430 billion student debt relief in its tracks.

Other ways Biden offered student debt relief

Biden was quick to respond to the Supreme Court ruling, calling it "a mistake."

“I’m not going to stop fighting to deliver borrowers what they need, particularly those at the bottom end of the economic scale," he told reporters. "So, we need to find a new way.”

Biden proceeded to lay out a plan by pivoting to the Higher Education Act of 1965, authorizing Cardona to compromise, waive, or release loans under certain circumstances.

Biden explained that this path, while legally sound, would take longer than offering relief through the Heroes Act. His administration managed to offer small bursts of relief for specific groups, including people unable to pay off small loans over 10 years and those employed by the government or nonprofits.

Just 11 days before the 2024 general election, Biden announced a new broad student debt relief plan. It would use newly proposed rules to authorize Cardona to cancel the debt of borrowers the government expects will default on their loans over the next two years if they meet certain criteria, he said. The plan would also allow borrowers experiencing "hardship," including medical debt, high childcare costs and economic impact from natural disasters, to apply for relief.

How much student debt has been forgiven?

Here's a look at the amount of outstanding student loan balances the Department of Education has identified for forgiveness:

◾ 1,007,940 borrowers with a collective outstanding balance of about $73.72 billion were identified for forgiveness as of October under Public Service Loan Forgiveness discharges and approvals.

◾ 1,035,480 borrowers with a collective outstanding balance of about $51.07 billion were identified for forgiveness as of May under the income-driven repayment plans.

◾ 1,328,000 borrowers with a collective outstanding balance of about $20.03 billion were identified for forgiveness, according to recent data, under borrower defense approvals.

◾ 571,850 borrowers with a collective outstanding balance of about $16.2 billion were identified for forgiveness as of August under Total and Permanent Disability discharges (through a match with the Social Security Administration and all types since July 1, 2023).

◾ 414,020 borrowers with a collective outstanding balance of about $5.46 billion were identified for forgiveness as of May under the SAVE program.

(This story was updated to refresh a headline.)

Contributing: Zachary Schermele.

Reach Rachel Barber at rbarber@usatoday.com and follow her on X @rachelbarber_

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Student loan debt: What happened to Biden's forgiveness plan?