$22.7 million in student loan debt forgiven in Maryland through Biden Administration's SAVE program

BALTIMORE - More than 2,600 Maryland residents had their federal student loans canceled in the first round of the Biden Administration's SAVE program.

Borrowers began receiving email notifications on Wednesday saying their student loan debt had been forgiven.

The first round of forgiveness cleared $1.2 billion in loans.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Education released the state-by-state breakdown of how much debt was cleared.

In Maryland, 2,680 residents had their student loans forgiven, worth around $22.7 million. In neighboring Pennsylvania, 5,600 residents had their debt cleared for $45.1 million, and 3,040 Virginia residents had their student loans forgiven for $24.6 million.

For a borrower to be eligible for student loan forgiveness, they must be enrolled in the SAVE Plan, have been making at least 10 years of payments, and have originally taken out $12,000 or less for college. 

For every $1,000 borrowed above $12,000, a borrower can receive forgiveness after an additional year of payments. All borrowers on SAVE receive forgiveness after 20 or 25 years, depending on whether they have loans for graduate school. 

"When we talk about fixing a broken student loan system, this is what we're talking about," said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. "The state-by-state SAVE Plan debt forgiveness numbers we're announcing today not only show that President Biden's leadership is making a real impact on people's lives in every state – they demonstrate that we won't ever stop fighting to make higher education more affordable and accessible for more Americans.  This is that commitment in action. This is the real deal."