(The Hill) - The Biden administration announced on Thursday it would be forgiving another $1.2 billion in student loans, covering the debt for 35,000 people through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. 

President Biden said the individuals who received debt relief from the action are teachers, nurses, law enforcement officers and first responders, with an average debt of $35,000.

The actions today brings the total number of people who have received relief from the Biden administration to 4.76 million.  

“Today’s announcement comes on top of the significant progress we’ve made for students and borrowers over the past three years. That includes providing the largest increases to the maximum Pell Grant in over a decade; fixing Income-Driven Repayment so borrowers get the relief they are entitled to under the law; and holding colleges accountable for taking advantage of students and families. And earlier this year, I laid out my Administration’s new plans that would cancel student debt for more than 30 million Americans when combined with everything we’ve done so far,” Biden said in a statement.  

The forgiveness comes as Republicans are fighting against Biden’s new income-driven repayment plan in court.

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