Joe Biden said ¡°the fight is not over¡± on his administration¡¯s efforts to cancel student loan debt, despite defeat in the US Supreme Court.

The president announced a ¡°new path¡± towards providing debt relief for as many borrowers as possible shortly after the pivotal decision by the highest court in the land.

By a vote of 6-3, judges ruled that Mr Biden¡¯s loan forgiveness promise from his 2020 campaign was not authorised in law.

But Mr Biden said that decision was ¡°wrong¡±, and decried the Supreme Court for siding with Republican elected officials, instead of providing support to more than 40 million working and middle-class Americans.

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He also criticised the ¡°hypocrisy¡± of Republicans who opposed the $400 billion (?320 billion) package, despite supporting billions in pandemic-related loans to businesses which were forgiven.

¡°But when it came to providing relief to millions of hard-working Americans, they did everything in their power to stop it,¡± he said. ¡°I will stop at nothing to find other ways to deliver relief to hard-working middle-class families.

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¡°My administration will continue to work to bring the promise of higher education to every American.¡±

Miguel Cardona, the education secretary, initiated a rule-making process aimed at opening an alternative path to debt relief using his authority under the Higher Education Act to ¡°help the working- and middle-class borrowers who need it most¡±.

The department issued a notice, announcing a virtual public hearing in July, which is the first step in the process of issuing new regulations under a ¡°negotiated rulemaking¡± process.

Mr Biden said he will continue fighting and claimed that the new path, which would be consistent with the Supreme Court¡¯s ruling and is ¡°legally sound¡±, will allow Mr Cardona to compromise, waive or release loans under certain circumstances.

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¡°It¡¯s going to take longer, but in my view it¡¯s the best path that remains to providing as many borrowers as possible with debt relief,¡± he said.

The Department of Education also finalised the Saving on a Valuable Education programme, which it called the ¡°most affordable repayment plan ever created¡±.

This income-driven repayment plan will cut borrowers¡¯ monthly payments in half, allowing the typical borrower to save more than $1,000 per year on payments.

The Biden administration said that borrowers will be able to take advantage of it this summer ¨C before loan payments are due.

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Furthermore, a 12-month ¡°on-ramp¡± to repayment would be introduced, meaning that financially vulnerable borrowers missing monthly payments will not be considered delinquent, reported to credit bureaus, placed in default, or referred to debt collection agencies.

¡°President Biden, vice-president Harris, and I remain fully committed to ensuring students can earn a postsecondary education, and build fulfilling careers without the burden of student loan debt blocking them from opportunity,¡± said Mr Cardona.

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patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com