Biden’s student debt relief draws 8M+ applications in first two days

More than 8 million Americans have applied for federal student debt relief since the Education Department began accepting applications late on Friday evening, President Joe Biden said on Monday.

In remarks at the White House, Biden announced that he was officially launching the new application website after it was tested over the weekend.

The application website “landed and handled more than 8 million applications without a glitch or any difficulty,” Biden said. He urged other Americans with federal student debt to apply for the program using the online form that is "easy, simple and fast."

The success of Biden's debt relief program will hinge in large part on the administration's ability to get borrowers to apply for it. More than 40 million Americans are eligible for the debt relief program, according to the Education Department. The agency has said it expects about 81 percent of eligible borrowers will apply for relief.

“We're going to make sure the system continues to work as smoothly as possible so that we can deliver student loan relief for millions of Americans as quickly and as efficiently as possible,” Biden said.

The debt relief program, announced in August, provides up to $20,000 of debt relief to borrowers earning below $125,000 individually or $250,000 as a couple.

On the Education Department's application form, borrowers are required to self-certify that they meet those income requirements. The agency has said it plans to ask between 1 million and 5 million borrowers to verify their income through additional documentation, such as tax forms.

Biden on Monday also expressed optimism that his administration would be able to defend the program against a barrage of legal challenges from Republican officials and conservative groups, who are suing to stop it.

“Our legal judgment is that it won’t” be struck down by a court, he told reporters.