Biden White House wipes student-debt slates clean for art school victims

The Biden-led White House has taken another major step in its ongoing campaign to free Americans from the burden of student debt.

In a major policy announcement, the Biden administration said it’s approved the cancellation of billions in student loans for hundreds of thousands of borrowers who were tricked by a private network of art schools.

"Today, my Administration is approving $6.1 billion in student debt cancellation for 317,000 borrowers who attended the Art Institutes," President Joe Biden said in a statement.

The Art Institutes is a chain of schools that had been found guilty of deceptive practices, including data falsification and misleading students about their career prospects after graduation even as they took on enormous debt.

The statement contrasted the current White House's proactive approach to the issue with previous administrations.

"While my predecessor looked the other way when colleges defrauded students and borrowers, I promised to take this on directly to provide borrowers with the relief they need and deserve," it said.

So far under the Biden leadership, nearly $29 billion in debt relief has been approved for approximately 1.6 million borrowers impacted by fraudulent or exploitative practices and sudden closures of colleges.

"We will never stop fighting to deliver relief to borrowers, hold bad actors accountable, and bring the promise of college to more Americans," the statement read.

Last month, the White House announced the cancellation of $7.4 billion in student debt for 277,000 Americans. To date, its efforts have facilitated nearly $160 billion in student loan relief.

The White House’s actions to address the crisis have included substantial increases to the Pell Grant program, improvements to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Income-Driven Repayment plans, and the introduction of the SAVE Plan, which it hailed as the most affordable repayment option to date.