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More than 800,000 in Mass. eligible for student loan relief

An activist holds a sign thanking President Biden for canceling some student debt, during a rally in front of the White House, on Aug. 25, 2022. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
An activist holds a sign thanking President Biden for canceling some student debt, during a rally in front of the White House, on Aug. 25, 2022. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

About one in nine Massachusetts residents are eligible for student loan debt relief under the plan President Joe Biden outlined last month, the White House said Tuesday.

Biden's press team published state-by-state data projecting the number of borrowers who could get thousands of dollars of student loan debt erased. In Massachusetts, the White House estimated roughly 813,000 people meet the income requirements to receive relief, about 401,200 of whom are Pell Grant recipients.

That pool of potential recipients is the 14th-highest of all states and U.S. territories, and it represents a bit more than 11% of the Bay State's population.

California, the most populous state in the country, also has more residents eligible for student debt relief than any other state with about 3.55 million, according to the Biden administration. The Biden administration said it does not know the home state or territory for about 3.77 million borrowers eligible for relief.

Biden's announcement called on the U.S. Department of Education to cancel up to $20,000 in loan debt held by DOE for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for non-Pell Grant recipients. Individual borrowers must have an income less than $125,000 to qualify, while married couples must earn less than $250,000.

Altogether, the White House estimates more than 40 million borrowers nationwide are in line for relief, nearly 90% of which the administration says will go to those earning $75,000 or less per year.

Required student loan payments have been paused during the pandemic and are set to resume in January. The Biden administration said more details about the debt relief plan will be released in the coming weeks.

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