President Biden announces student loan forgiveness

Part of it centers on canceling loans for those who make less than $125,000.

Ahead of another deadline on the restart of payments for America's $1.7 trillion in federal student loans, President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced a plan to cancel debt for a subset of Americans and continue to keep a pandemic-era pause on repayments -- a sweeping move he has openly weighed in some form or another since his time as a candidate.

Speaking from the White House's Roosevelt Room, Biden outlined his plan to forgive tens of thousands of dollars for individuals earning less than $125,000 a year.

"An entire generation is now saddled with unsustainable debt in exchange for an attempt at least at a college degree," Biden said. "The burden is so heavy that even if you graduate, you may not have access to the middle class life that the college degree once provided."

"The pandemic only made things worse," he continued, noting that many people can't afford to buy homes or are putting off starting a family in part because of their student loan debt.

People who took out Pell Grants to pay for college, which are grants given to low-income borrowers, can qualify for up to $20,000 in debt forgiveness as part of Wednesday's broader announcement on student loan forgiveness. Other student loan borrowers who don't have Pell Grants will still have loans forgiven up to $10,000,