President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that his administration will forgive up to $20,000 worth of student loan debt for borrowers who received Pell Grants.
People who didn't receive a Pell Grant are eligible for up to $10,000 in loan forgiveness, the president said on Twitter.
The government will only cancel debt for people making less than $125,000 a year.
Biden said Wednesday that 43 million people will benefit from his loan forgiveness program and about half of them will have their debt completely wiped out.
"That's 20 million people who can start getting on with their lives," he said.
In addition to canceling student loan debt, Biden will extend the repayment pause until Dec. 31. He said this will be the last extension of the pause, which began due to the pandemic.
Biden's plan will also allow people with undergraduate loans to cap their repayment at 5% of their monthly income.
It's still unclear how the plan will be implemented. Biden is expected to make a formal announcement Wednesday afternoon.
Many people were hoping to get information ahead of Biden's announcement. Borrowers reported that their loan provider's website went down Wednesday morning.
Despite the apparent excitement of potentially getting student loan debt canceled, not everyone was happy.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called Biden's plan unfair.
"President Biden's student loan socialism is a slap in the face to every family who sacrificed to save for college, every graduate who paid their debt, and every American who chose a certain career path or volunteered to serve in our Armed Forces in order to avoid taking on debt," he said.
McConnell also claimed the plan would make inflation worse.
Biden disputed that claim and attacked Republicans for approving tax cuts that he says the wealthy benefitted from under the last administration.
“I find it interesting how some of my Republican friends who voted for those tax cuts...think we shouldn’t be helping these folks," Biden said.
Approximately 43 million Americans have federal student loan debt, which totals $1.6 trillion.
