More than 35,000 borrowers will have $1.2 billion in student debt discharged under the public service loan forgiveness (PSLF) program, the Biden administration announced Thursday. The program impacts teachers, nurses, firefighters, social workers, and other public servants, including the military.

Debt relief under PSLF now totals $69.2 billion for 946,000 borrowers since October 2021. Under the previous administration, only 2% or around 7,000 PSLF borrowers received forgiveness.

“The additional Americans approved for PSLF today are hard-working public servants who will finally receive the financial breathing room they were promised,” Miguel Cardona, U.S. Secretary of Education, said in a press release.

Impacted borrowers will receive an email from the Education Department notifying them of the discharge.

Debt relief advocates praised Thursday’s announcement and warned that such help could come to an end if Donald Trump retakes the White House in November.

"These latest actions … [stand] in stark contrast to the extremist and unconscionable agenda of Project 2025, which would reimpose a crippling debt sentence on millions of American workers,” Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), told Yahoo Finance.

Project 2025 is a conservative policy blueprint created by the right-leaning Heritage Foundation that outlines major initiatives that could be pursued under a potential second Trump administration.

“The education chapter calls for breaking up the U.S. Department of Education [and] end loan forgiveness programs, such as borrower defense [for defrauded borrowers], PSLF, and end the SAVE repayment plan [while] privatizing all federal student loan programs,” Mark Kantrowitz, author and student loans expert, told Yahoo Finance.

PSLF loan discharge for military and other professions in public service

Teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, and other professionals who work in public service jobs with federal, state, local, or certain non-profit organizations are eligible to have their remaining loan balances discharged after 10 years of payments through the PSLF program.

PSLF is also available for military service members who don’t qualify for other military loan forgiveness programs.

The number of PSLF borrowers who received a discharge has increased because of a settlement following a lawsuit from the AFT, which sued the Education Department in 2019 after more than 98% of borrowers who applied for the PSLF program were denied loan forgiveness during the Trump Administration.

In the past, PSLF borrowers complained about the amount of paperwork, having to mail documents, and the lack of an easy online process.

In 2022, the Biden administration introduced the PSLF Help Tool that allows borrowers to complete the entire PSLF application process online. Another improvement for PSLF borrowers is the ability to digitally track the status of their applications in their StudentAid.gov account.

As of July 1, the PSLF program is now fully managed by the Education Department instead of a loan servicer.

To date, the Biden administration has forgiven $168.5 billion in student loan debt for 4.76 million borrowers.

In addition to the $69.2 billion received by 946,000 PSLF borrowers, 1,414,000 borrowers have received $56.5 billion in discharge through the SAVE income-driven repayment (IDR) plan and the one-time IDR adjustment; 548,000 borrowers with a total and permanent disability received $14.1 billion in debt discharges; and over 1.6 million borrowers who were defrauded by their schools received $28.7 billion in discharges under the borrower defense discharge, according to the Education Department.

Ronda is a personal finance senior reporter for Yahoo Finance and attorney with experience in law, insurance, education, and government. Follow her on X @writesronda