The Biden administration quietly announced a change in its student debt forgiveness program on Thursday that could exclude up to 4 million borrowers with loans owned or backed by private companies.
The u-turn by the federal government comes after the first legal challenges were filed to the policy and following criticism of the huge costs to taxpayers. Critics also claimed the plan is an illegal use of President Joe Biden’s executive power.
The Education Department announced that privately-held loans won’t qualify for the relief plan, which the Congressional Budget Office said earlier this week could cost $400billion over a decade.
The scale back on Perkins and Federal Family Education Loans – which are bank loans backed by federal guarantees – is over concerns the companies could challenge the Biden administration in court, Politico reported.