President Biden Announces the SAVE Plan for Student Debt Repayment Transcript

My fellow Americans, you know I’m a firm believer in education beyond high school, and that should be a ticket to the middle class, not a burden that weighs people down for decades to come trying to pay their debt. On day one of my administration, I promised to fix the problems of the existing student loan program that hurt borrowers for much too long. And I’m proud we’re keeping that promise. We’ve already approved over $116 billion in debt cancellation for 3.4 million Americans, no matter how many lawsuits, challenges or roadblocks Republican elected officials or special interest tried to put in our way. And today, I’m proud to announce a new program called the SAVE Plan. It’s the most affordable student loan plan ever. And here’s how it works. To pay back that loan, you had to pay 10% of your discretionary income. That’s all the income available to you after you pay for food, housing, and all your basic needs.

(00:51)
Under my new plan, reducing that payment to just 5% of your disposable income. That’s going to save the typical borrower around a $1,000 a year. It’s going to give borrowers a little bit more breathing room, and if your annual income is less than $30,000, your monthly payment will be zero until it gets above $30,000. As long as you pay what you owe under this plan, you’ll no longer see your loan balance grow because of unpaid interest. Under the SAVE Plan, monthly payments are based on your income, not your student loan balance. And here’s how you can enroll in the SAVE program. Visit studentaid.gov/save and submit an application. It takes about 10 minutes to fill it out, and if you’re eligible for the SAVE Plan, sign up now so you can lower your monthly payments in advance of payments resuming this fall.

(01:41)
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, as long as I’m president, my administration will never stop fighting to deliver relief to borrowers and bring the promise of college to more Americans. And that’s a commitment.