“Congratulations — all or a portion of your federal student loans will be forgiven,” President Biden will say in an announcement Wednesday to relieve student debt from 153,000 borrowers as part of his new “SAVE” plan to cancel student debt.

Americans enrolled in the SAVE plan who have initially borrowed $12,000 or less and have been repaying their debt for at least 10 years will soon receive an email from Mr. Biden promising early loan forgiveness. 

The administration has so far approved nearly $137 billion in debt cancellation for 3.7 million borrowers, according to the announcement. With the 2024 presidential election around the corner, Mr. Biden is doubling down on his efforts to cancel student loan debt for tens of millions of Americans.

The waves of debt forgiveness come despite Biden being warned by the Supreme Court in a 2023 ruling that his efforts to wipe out hundreds of billions in student debt are unlawful and exceed his authority as president. 

The SAVE plan, finalized last year, offers borrowers lower monthly payments determined by their income so that those with smaller balances might see loan forgiveness more quickly. The program ultimately promises its enrollees a quicker road to repayment compared to the previous system, under which borrowers would have to pay installments for 20 to 25 years. 

“From day one of my Administration,” Mr. Biden will tell his constituents in the email, “I vowed to fix student loan programs so higher education can be a ticket to the middle class—not a barrier to opportunity.” 

Mr. Biden’s announcement comes as he seeks to make student loans a central issue of his reelection campaign. Earlier this month, the Education Department proposed a one-time debt relief program that would automatically cancel debt for borrowers who are at least 80 percent likely to default on their debt within the next two years. “We’ll leave no stone unturned,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said, “in the fight to fix a broken student loan system.”