The White House released an analysis on Tuesday of how many people in each state stand to benefit from its student loan forgiveness plan, including a count of borrowers who received a Pell Grant.
More than 3.5 million people are eligible for debt cancellation in California, and in Texas, north of 3 million, according to the estimate conducted by the U.S. Department of Education.
There is no precedent for the sweeping loan relief President Joe Biden announced last month, which may cost up to $1 trillion. Under the Biden administration’s action, most borrowers will be eligible for up to $10,000 in cancellation if they didn’t receive a Pell Grant, which is a type of aid available to low-income undergraduate students, and up to $20,000 if they did.
Most Pell Grant recipients come from families with incomes of less than $60,000, says higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.
Borrowers should be able to apply for forgiveness in October, and some 8 million people may get their loans automatically cleared because the government already has their income data. The relief is limited to individuals earning no more than $125,000 a year, or households making less than $250,000.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., a longtime advocate for student loan forgiveness, said she became emotional looking at the numbers. In her state, around 813,000 people will be impacted.
“Behind every number, there is a person, there is a family, there is a story,” Pressley said, on a call with reporters about the findings.
Here’s a breakdown of the affected borrowers by state.
