Joe Biden declares student loan forgiveness applications website open

US President Joe Biden has declared the student loan forgiveness applications website open. This initiative was a part of the promises Biden had made during his 2020 presidential campaign, and he has managed to launch the website weeks before the United States goes out to vote for the midterm elections.

Biden also pointed out the commitment he had made: “My commitment was, if elected president, I was going to make government work to deliver for the people. This rollout keeps that commitment, just as I’m keeping my commitment to relieve student debt as borrowers recover from this economic crisis caused by the once in a lifetime pandemic.”

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During the inauguration, the 46th US President said, “Today marks a big step among others that my administration is taking to make education a ticket to the middle class”. “A new student loan application is now open. If you have federal student debt please visit student aid.gov. It’s easy, simple and fast. And it’s a new day for millions of Americans all across our nation,” he further added.

Miguel Cardona, the Secretary of Education, later said that the beta version of the website has already been used by more than eight million people to claim loan forgiveness.

During the launch, Biden assured that the administration will try to run the website and the application process without any hiccups. He said, “We’re going to make sure the system continues to work as smoothly as possible so that we can deliver student loan relief for millions of Americans as quickly and as efficiently as possible”.

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Republicans have continued to criticise the US President over his decision to forgive student loans. After the inauguration on Monday, Nathan Brand, a spokesperson for the Republican National Convention accused Biden’s decision to forgive student loans as the reason behind “rising gas prices, sky-high grocery bills, and tax hikes”.

Biden has decried the outrage by Republicans as “wrong” and “hypocritical”. He went on to say that despite their criticisms, numerous members of the GOP have benefited from government schemes launched in the post-COVID era.