PSLF expansion
PSLF was created by Congress in 2007 but was plagued with administrative problems before Biden took office. Just 7,000 people had ever received debt relief under the program previously, according to the White House.

In 2021, Biden put a temporary waiver in place, expanding eligibility so that some borrowers could retroactively receive credit for past payments that did not otherwise qualify for PSLF.

The Biden administration is also conducting a one-time recount of borrowers’ past payments to fix what officials have called “past administrative failures.” The agency expects to complete the recount by July.

Generally, the recount will give borrowers credit toward forgiveness for any months in which they made payments regardless of what repayment plan they were enrolled in at the time, according to the Department of Education. The recount especially helps borrowers who may have been inappropriately steered by their student loan servicing company into a long-term forbearance, a period in which they stopped making payments.