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My husband is a teacher and the sole earner for our family of 7. Money is tight, but it's worth it for his health insurance.

Teacher in classroom
The author's husband (not pictured) still works as a teacher for health insurance.

Solskin/Getty Images

  • My husband has been teaching for 20 years.
  • His salary is $19,000 above the poverty level for our family of seven.
  • While money is tight, it's worth him keeping his job for our health insurance.

For most of his career as a public school teacher, my husband's paycheck has hovered just above the poverty level for our family. This past summer, my children even qualified for the free lunch program through the schools.

Today, with my husband's 20 years of teaching experience and a Masters degree, his pay is about $19,000 above the poverty level for a family of our size in our state. He has reached the top of the teaching pay scale at our school, which means his income will not increase after this year, but with five children, two of them teens and two on the brink, we are entering one of the most expensive phases of our lives.

Although we have talked about my husband leaving teaching many, many times, the discussion always comes back to one sticking point: health insurance.

Our health insurance is great

We are extremely fortunate the teachers' union that my husband's school works with has always advocated for top-tier healthcare. Part of that is many teachers and teacher's families who have special health needs, but regardless of the catalyst, our family has always enjoyed what I feel is excellent health insurance.

Our annual family deductible is $2,000, and we have a PPO, which means I've never had to deal with referrals or even prior authorization. I've never had to fight an insurance company, and we've never had a denial.

There was a time in my life when we were first married and still in college when I used Medicaid for my pregnancy. I felt so ashamed every time I went to the doctor, although I was incredibly grateful that I never paid a dime during my pregnancy, and it allowed me to graduate from college as a nurse exactly one week before delivering my baby.

Despite my shame in using Medicaid, the experience also opened our eyes to how important health insurance is because I had postpartum complications that led me to have two hospitalizations after giving birth.

The statements were mailed to our house after I had recovered, and when I saw how high the statements were for those bills and then realized they had been fully covered, I wept in relief. At that time in our lives, as brand-new parents and new college graduates, a $20,000 hospital bill would have ruined our lives. Instead, we were able to start our adult lives fresh and immediately started working, paying back into the system that saved us.

We don't have crippling medical bills

With those memories in hand and five children we are responsible for, we have always felt that any potential lower income as a public school teacher has been worth it for access to high-quality health insurance. We've been fortunate not to have any true medical emergencies, but even with seemingly "normal" medical events, like a premature baby and a weeklong NICU stay, we have still not experienced any of the crippling medical bills that haunt many American families.

I do wish that teachers were paid just a little higher, especially considering how highly valued they were during the pandemic, but for us, health insurance alone has made it worth it.

I don't know what will happen in the future, especially with education and healthcare, but I do hope that we can continue to prioritize the health insurance that has made our lives possible to this point because it provides us with a lot of peace of mind. But even more so, it might be nice to get to a point in society when employer-tied health insurance doesn't rule our decision-making.

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Microsoft forms a new AI group under former Facebook head of engineering Jay Parikh

Jay Parikh, co-CEO at Lacework
Jay Parikh

Lacework

  • Microsoft formed a new engineering group led by Jay Parikh to build AI tools.
  • Microsoft anticipates AI agents will fundamentally change application development.
  • The new CoreAI Platform and Tools group will combine various AI teams and build out GitHub Copilot.

Microsoft has created a new engineering organization responsible for building its artificial intelligence platform and tools, according to an email CEO Satya Nadella sent to employees Monday morning.

The new group will be led by Jay Parikh, Facebook's former head of engineering who Nadella added to Microsoft's senior leadership team in October.

Microsoft is forming the new group as it anticipates AI, and particularly AI agents, will present a fundamental shift in how applications are built and used.

"2025 will be about model-forward applications that reshape all application categories," Nadella wrote in the email, which was also posted to Microsoft's blog. "More so than any previous platform shift, every layer of the application stack will be impacted. It's akin to GUI, internet servers, and cloud-native databases all being introduced into the app stack simultaneously. Thirty years of change is being compressed into three years!"

The new group is called CoreAI Platform and Tools. It will include Microsoft's developer division and AI platform team, and will be responsible for building out GitHub Copilot. AI-related teams from CTO Kevin Scott's office, such as AI Supercomputer, AI Agentic Runtimes, and Engineering Thrive, will also be part of the new group.

Parikh worked at Facebook for more than a decade. He helped the company build out and maintain its massive technical infrastructure, a network of expensive data centers stocked with thousands of computers and spanning multiple continents.

As one of Mark Zuckerberg's top lieutenants, Parikh also spearheaded various ambitious initiatives such as internet connectivity and an internet drone project that was eventually abandoned.

At Microsoft, Parikh's new reports include AI Platform Corporate Vice President Eric Boyd; Deputy CTO, AI Infrastructure Jason Taylor; Developer Division President Julia Liuson; and Developer Infrastructure Corporate Vice President Tim Bozarth.

Parikh will also work closely with Cloud + AI chief Scott Guthrie, Experiences and Devices leader Rajesh Jha, Security boss Charlie Bell, consumer AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman, and Scott, the CTO, according to the email.

Are you a Microsoft employee or someone else with insight to share?

Contact Ashley Stewart via email ([email protected]), or send a secure message from a non-work device via Signal (+1-425-344-8242).

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The Lively-Baldoni battle fits into a broader PR trend that can be costly for the media

Blake Lively Justin Baldoni split image
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni costarred in "It Ends With Us."

Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Sony Pictures; Gotham/WireImage

  • PR pros and lawyers see the Lively-Baldoni fight as part of a larger trend.
  • They say public figures often file lawsuits to try to influence the popular narrative.
  • Media outlets can sometimes become collateral damage in this strategy.

As Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni hurl competing accusations in court, some media lawyers and PR pros see their battle as part of a bigger trend of prominent figures using lawsuits to change public opinion.

"They're done primarily as a PR play," Juda Engelmayer, a veteran crisis PR pro, said of lawsuits like Lively's and Baldoni's.

Lively accused her "It Ends With Us" costar Baldoni of sexually harassing her and engaging in a smear campaign against her. The New York Times detailed her allegations in an article published December 21.

Baldoni and his camp fired back in a libel lawsuit against the Times in California Superior Court. Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, also said last week that his client planned to sue Lively.

Several media lawyers told BI they saw a calculated PR strategy at work on both sides.

Lively's initial complaint, filed with theΒ California Civil Rights Department,Β coincided with the Times article on the allegations, which was based on the complaint and supporting documents. Filing a legal complaint gives cover to the plaintiff to make accusations and to the news outlet to freely report on it because it's shielded by fair reporting privileges.

And the complaint was filed right before the holidays, which could have made it harder for the Baldoni camp to respond. Lively later filed a federal lawsuit making similar claims against Baldoni and others.

Lively's claims and Baldoni's subsequent suit made huge splashes with widespread media coverage. Media lawyers told BI they saw Baldoni's suit as weak from a libel standpoint, but the details helped him publicize his side of the story.

Other examples of narrative-shaping lawsuits include actor Sophie Turner's 2023 "wrongful retention" legal complaint against her now ex-husband, which was later dismissed, and Drake's recent petitions against Universal Music Group and Spotify over Kendrick Lamar's song "Not Like Us."

"It happens quite often that people and companies with lots of resources use multi-tiered litigation" to get advantages outside the legal system, said Sean Andrade of Los Angeles law firm Andrade Gonzalez, who's represented plaintiffs in libel cases.

"It doesn't matter that you're going to lose because the goal was to publicize your side of the story and create some doubt in Blake Lively's," he said of Baldoni's libel suit against the Times.

Media caught in the crossfire

Lawyers and PR pros told BI that defamation cases often have a PR motive β€” and media outlets are a common target.

Before Johnny Depp won a US defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard in 2019, he sued the UK's Sun for libel.

Engelmayer said that though Depp lost that first case, it still served a purpose.

"Any time anyone sues a major publication, even if they lose in court, it's a win for those who support him. And for those sitting on the fence, it makes them think twice," he said.

There are some legal safeguards to prevent the unfair weaponizing of defamation suits.

Many US states now have anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) laws. These laws are meant to protect news outlets or other entities from frivolous lawsuits that can be costly to defend. Thirty-four states and DC have such laws, which typically let defendants who win anti-SLAPP motions recover legal fees, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

These laws have helped news outlets fight many meritless cases, said George Freeman, executive director of the Media Law Resource Center, which provides legal resources to media outlets.

Still, the laws aren't always effective at preventing lawsuits from being filed. Deep-pocketed plaintiffs can weather big legal fees if they lose a case. Press advocates said that anecdotally, they'd seen an uptick in anti-media rhetoric or baseless cases against the media. PEN America said that lately, courts have been letting more cases go forward, financially burdening media outlets and threatening to require them to reveal confidential sources.

"There seem to be more cases than we've seen, including some against media," Freeman said of defamation suits more broadly. "So deterrents don't seem to be working. Media isn't as well off as it once was. So they're a target."

These lawsuits can be costly and distracting for media organizations, even if they win.

"Even in situations where a news organization is able to get a defamation case dismissed, there is a time and resource cost that is significant," said Jennifer Nelson, senior staff attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. She recalled one case she handled where the news outlet eventually won, but only after years of litigation.

"Particularly for smaller outlets, it can be a challenge and have a chilling effect on reporting," she said.

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Walmart's new look was inspired by founder Sam Walton's iconic trucker hat

Walmart's new branding on a Sam Walton-style trucker hat.
Walmart's new branding on a Sam Walton-style trucker hat. The original version had a hyphen.

Walmart.

  • Walmart just unveiled its latest brand refresh β€” the first major change in 17 years.
  • The new logo draws retro inspiration from one of founder Sam Walton's iconic trucker hats.
  • Walmart said blue and yellow evoke the retail giant's past and look forward to a more digital future.

What's old is new again.

With Walmart's latest brand refresh β€” the first major change in 17 years β€” the company is harkening back to the styling of its founder Sam Walton.

The company said its new logo draws retro inspiration from one of Walton's iconic trucker hats, which is featured in his portrait for the cover of his autobiography "Made in America."

A photograph of Walmart founder Sam Walton book "Made in America" is displayed at the Walmart Museum in Arkansas.
A photograph of Walmart founder Sam Walton book "Made in America" is displayed at the Walmart Museum in Arkansas.

Gilles Mingasson/Getty Images

"Walton was known for preferring baseball caps to staid business clothes, exemplified in this trucker-style hat he wore," says the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, where another design is exhibited.

Walton's hats also served a practical function as he famously flew his small airplane around the country, sometimes dropping in unannounced from the sky on stores to check on their operations.

Sam Walton flying in the late 1980s or early 1990s.
Walton sporting his iconic hat in the cockpit of a private plane.

Walmart Museum

"This update, rooted in the legacy of our founder, Sam Walton, demonstrates our evolving capabilities and longstanding commitment to serve our customers of today and tomorrow," Walmart's US chief marketing officer, William White, said in a statement.

"While the look and feel of our brand is more contemporary, our refreshed brand identity reflects Walmart's enduring commitment to both Sam's principles and serving our customers however they need us," he added.

Walmart's wordmark, before and after the brand refresh.
Walmart's wordmark, before and after the brand refresh.

Walmart

The new font is bolder and blockier than its predecessor, and the blue is a deeper hue than the slightly teal version of before.

The company says the "True Blue" and "Spark Yellow" evoke its past and look forward to a more digital future as the company aims to push beyond traditional brick-and-mortar retail and take a bigger bite of the e-commerce market.

The last time Walmart rebranded was in 2008, when it dropped the punctuation between "Wal" and "Mart," which it had for 44 years.

That year also saw the arrival of the yellow spark, an icon that the company says represents six key facets of its commitment to customers and associates.

If you are a Walmart worker who wants to share your perspective, please contact Dominick via email or text/call/Signal at 646.768.4750. Responses will be kept confidential, and Business Insider strongly recommends using a personal email and a non-work device when reaching out

Read the original article on Business Insider

The new Miss America said allowing winners to go public with their significant others is a good way to 'boost recruitment' for the competition

Miss America 2025 Abbie Stockard
Abbie Stockard has been crowned Miss America 2025.

Courtesy of Miss America

  • Abbie Stockard was crowned the new Miss America on January 5.
  • A video of her boyfriend, Utah Jazz player Walker Kessler, watching her win went viral.
  • Stockard told BI she thinks it's "amazing" that Miss America no longer has an anti-boyfriend rule.

Shortly after Miss Alabama Abbie Stockard was crowned Miss America in Orlando on January 5, a video of her boyfriend's reaction went viral.

Walker Kessler, who plays for the Utah Jazz, just happened to be in town for a game against the Magic. After Stockard won, he rushed over from the arena to her coronation.

"It's fate because he plays over 80 games the entire season. He is in Orlando one night the entire year," Stockard told Business Insider. "What are the odds it's the night I'm crowned Miss America?"

The touching video has racked up more than a million views since it was shared on Bleacher Report's TikTok on January 7. But it likely wouldn't have been allowed when Miss America had a strict "anti-boyfriend" rule.

The unofficial policy β€” dictated by former Miss America CEO Sam Haskell β€” was explained by past winners such as Savvy Shields Wolfe and Betty Maxwell in the 2023 A&E docuseries "Secrets of Miss America."

"It was made clear that Sam was in charge, and what he said went, and boyfriends were not allowed to exist when you're Miss America," Wolfe said in the series.

"They're very, very, very anti-boyfriend because they want you to look like you're America's sweetheart," said Maxwell, who won in 2015. "They're trying to be feminist and 'Me Too' and all these things, and at the same time, they're not thinking every young 20-something is dating someone? Come on."

Haskell did not respond to previous requests for comment from BI about the docuseries.

Miss Colorado Madison Marsh has been crowned Miss America 2024.
Marsh was crowned Miss America in January 2024.

Houston M Photography

While married women and mothers are still not permitted to compete in Miss America, there's been a clear shift in policy.

Madison Marsh announced her engagement a week after winning the crown in January 2024. At the time, Marsh told BI that the competition had changed under Robin Fleming, who became CEO in January 2023.

"There are a lot of outdated rules that have gone away," Marsh said. "Just because you're engaged or in a healthy relationship doesn't mean you're not independent. It doesn't mean you still can't be a leader."

Stockard thinks it's an "amazing" shift for the competition.

"I'm so glad that it doesn't really matter now because it does not affect your job as Miss America at all," she said. "Having the Miss America team support Walker and our relationship has just made it even more special."

Madison Marsh crowns Abbie Stockard at Miss America 2025
Madison Marsh crowns Abbie Stockard at Miss America 2025.

Courtesy of Miss America

The new Miss America also thinks allowing contestants to go public with their significant others is a "good way to boost recruitment" for the pageant.

"I've heard stories of girls who just didn't want to compete because they were in a serious relationship, and they weren't willing to put that relationship on hold or to hide it throughout their year," she said. "But now it's not like that. They don't have to worry about that anymore."

Plus, Stockard said Kessler has been doing a great job helping her promote the Miss America Organization.

"I watched one of his media interviews with the Utah Jazz yesterday, which is always about basketball, and they didn't ask him one basketball question; it was all about Miss America," she said with a laugh. "He was literally using my talking points. He knows all about it."

Read the original article on Business Insider

I've been to 3 Alpine-style towns in the US. Each was charming and made me feel like I was in Switzerland.

Author Emily Pennington posing among wildflowers, mountains, and field in Crested Butte
I've visited towns in US that feel like Switzerland and have found the best are in Colorado.

Emily Pennington

  • I've been to Alpine-style towns in the US that feel like Europe, particularly Switzerland.
  • Colorado's Ouray has been nicknamed "The Little Switzerland of America" for many reasons.
  • Telluride and Crested Butte also feel like European-style escapes within the US.

Soaring granite peaks, glacier-carved valleys, and a myriad of geothermally-heated hot springs are just a handful of reasons that thousands of Americans venture to the Swiss Alps each year.

However, I've found similarly stunning mountainous landscapes and a thriving food and arts scene in humble Colorado.

The Centennial State is famous for its many adorable mountain towns and ski villages, but as a Colorado local, there are only three that I venture to when I want to rekindle that heart-pounding feeling I felt when I first visited the Alps many years ago.

Here are three of my favorite Alpine-style villages in Colorado.

I see why some say Ouray is a slice of Switzerland in the US

Aerial view of Ouray in Colorado - rocky mountains and buildings surrounded by trees
Ouray has many Swiss-inspired elements.

Emily Pennington

Ouray is one of few towns in the US that's been nicknamed "The Little Switzerland of America."

It's easy to see why with just one wintery jaunt down its main boulevard β€” towering bluffs of rock and snow jut up in every direction, and historic buildings are everywhere.

There's no need to fly to a mountain resort in Zermatt to get your adrenaline pumping, either. Ouray's Ice Park and annual Ice Festival offer some of the best opportunities to dust off your crampons and go ice climbing in the US.

For a bit of higher-brow culture, stop at the Wright Opera House. It was established in 1888 and hosts a variety of live performances throughout the year, including an annual Yule celebration.

If you visit in the summer or fall, don't miss the Million Dollar Highway, a scenic driving route that winds past cascading waterfalls and tall peaks.

When it's time to refuel, check into the Victorian-era Beaumont Hotel in downtown Ouray. With its antique furnishings and historic architecture, it feels like it belongs in Europe.

Finally, soak your tired bones while enjoying outstanding mountain views at the Ouray Hot Springs Pool or the Historic Weisbaden Hot Springs Spa that give some of Switzerland's a run for their money.

I've enjoyed many European vibes and eats in Telluride

Via Ferrata in Telluride with people climbing on the side of it
Climbing Telluride's via ferrata is bucket-list-worthy.

Emily Pennington

Apart from having an excellent ski and live-music scene, Telluride is also home to incredible European-inspired eateries and architecture.

If you want to recreate a classic Swiss tradition, try the extensive fondue menu at Alpinist and the Goat, which features imported Gruyère and French truffle.

If you're staying slopeside, check out Timber Room, which offers fire-roasted meals and cruditΓ© in an elegant, living-room-style setting.

Snowy pathway with houses in back and mountains in Telluride
Telluride has an excellent ski scene.

Emily Pennington

For second-to-none Euro-style digs, head to the lavish Dunton Town House.

It's designed to honor Tyrolean immigrants who came to the San Juan Mountains over 150 years ago β€” and Austrian ceramics and antiques can be found throughout the historic inn.

Virew of water and snow in Telluride
Telluride has many mountain views.

Emily Pennington

Of course, Telluride also has many opportunities for outdoor recreation.

To experience a quintessentially Alps-like mountain hut, visit High Camp Hut near the mountainous Lizard Head Pass. It puts guests at the center of the surrounding snowy peaks, with opportunities for backcountry skiing and sledding.

If you're visiting in the warmer summer months, book a guided day trip along the Telluride's via ferrata, which is reminiscent of similar gear-supported climbing routes in Switzerland.

Crested Butte feels like a mountainous escape

View of wildflower field and trees in Crested Butte
During some months, Crested Butte has lots of wildflowers.

Emily Pennington

Since it's about a four-hour drive from Denver, Crested Butte's wildflower-strewn meadows and powdery ski slopes tend to offer a crowd-free escape from Colorado's busiest mountain towns.

During winter months, Crested Butte Mountain Resort offers fantastic groomed runs for all experience levels. It's known for its "extreme inbounds skiing," which is reminiscent of Chamonix's famous side-country routes.

I'd also recommend a trip through the nearby town of Gothic, which offers car camping and opportunities to swim in sparkling alpine lakes throughout the sunny summer months. Its striking landscape reminds me of the beautiful and immense summits around Switzerland's Lauterbrunnen village.

After a day of sightseeing in and around Crested Butte, enjoy blistered baby carrots and dry-aged Piedmontese beef at Two Twelve, an elevated eatery in town.

Or, try a fine-dining experience at Magic Meadows Yurt, which diners can only get to by Nordic skiing or snowshoeing.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Elon Musk's X is gearing up to add more defendants to its lawsuit against advertisers

Elon Musk
Elon Musk owns X, which is planning to add more defendants to its lawsuit against advertisers.

AP Photo/Matt Rourke

  • Elon Musk's X plans to add more defendants to its lawsuit against advertisers.
  • The lawsuit centers on the Global Alliance for Responsible Media and its advertiser members.
  • A new legal filing says X wants to add "multiple additional defendants" to the suit.

Elon Musk's X is getting ready to add more defendants to its lawsuit that accuses advertisers of illegally conspiring to boycott the platform.

X initially filed its lawsuit in a Texas court in August. The complaint alleges that members of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, a now defunct initiative from the advertiser trade body the World Federation of Advertisers, colluded to "collectively withhold billions of dollars in advertising revenue" from X, formerly Twitter.

The current defendants in the case are the WFA, CVS Health, Mars, the energy company Orsted, andΒ Twitch. (Twitch was added to the lawsuit later than the other defendants. Unilever was initially named as a defendant but reached an agreement with X and was dropped from the suit in October.)

A joint filing from X's legal representatives and counsel for the defendants said X planned to file a second amended complaint "in which it will add multiple additional defendants."

The filing said X would share a draft of its second complaint with the current defendants by January 20 and file it with the court by January 25.

Reps for X, CVS, Mars, Orsted, and Twitch didn't respond to requests for comment.

A WFA spokesperson declined to comment. The WFA has previously said that it intends to defend itself in court and that it is confident the outcome will demonstrate that it adhered to competition law.

'Brand safety' is a growing political flash point

News that X could add more defendants to its suit comes at a fraught time for marketers and for the practice of "brand safety."

Much of X's lawsuit against GARM and its members was based on an investigation by the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jim Jordan, into whether advertisers were illegally banding together to demonetize conservative platforms and voices in violation of antitrust law. Jordan continues to investigate advertisers' and agencies' work with GARM.

Jim Jordan
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio has been investigating whether advertisers colluded to defund conservative media.

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File

The Democratic staff of the House Judiciary Committee published their own report last month accusing Jordan of abusing his oversight power.

Their report argued that Jordan and his allies' goal was "not to conduct antitrust oversight as they claim, but rather to silence criticism of harmful online content and those who promote it."

Russell Dye, a spokesperson for the committee, said its investigation proved the collusion of left-wing advocates to secretly censor conservative speech.

"Those in the media and elsewhere that deny the collusion supported by clear documentation are themselves pushing disinformation," Dye said in a statement.

GARM discontinued operations after X sued it, saying that as a small, nonprofit organization, it lacked the resources to fight the lawsuit.

The WFA is also facing a separate lawsuit from the video site Rumble, which accuses GARM, the ad agency holding company WPP, and its media arm GroupM of collectively agreeing to restrict advertising on social platforms including Rumble. In November, Texas' attorney general, Ken Paxton, launched an investigation into the WFA over advertiser boycotts.

This month, Meta announced plans to shake up its content-moderation policies in the US, which had some advertisers worried that the tech giant was loosening its brand-safety standards. But unlike in the past, there hasn't been any public suggestion that brands intend to pull ad dollars from Meta in response. Advertising insiders told BI that it was partly a reflection of how reliant marketers had become on Meta, but also that advertisers had become more cautious about publicly criticizing or boycotting platforms and media given the political environment.

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152,000 student-loan borrowers are getting $4.2 billion in debt cancellation through Biden's relief efforts a week before Trump takes office

President Joe Biden
President Joe Biden announced more student-loan forgiveness for thousands of borrowers.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

  • Biden announced an additional $4.2 billion in student-debt cancellation for 152,000 borrowers.
  • The relief will benefit borrowers in PSLF, defrauded borrowers, and borrowers with disabilities.
  • It likely marks Biden's last relief efforts before Trump takes office in one week.

Thousands more borrowers are receiving student-loan forgiveness just one week before President Joe Biden leaves the White House.

On Monday, Biden's administration announced $4.2 billion more in debt cancellation for over 152,000 borrowers. The relief impacts borrowers in three different categories: government and nonprofit workers in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, borrowers who the Education Department found were defrauded by their schools, and those with total and permanent disabilities.

This latest announcement brings the total amount of debt relief under Biden to $183.6 billion for over 5 million student-loan borrowers.

"5 million Americans now have the breathing room to afford homes, save for retirement, and start a family," Neera Tanden, Biden's domestic policy advisor, told reporters on a Monday press call.

The Education Department said that 6,100 borrowers in PSLF are receiving $465 million in debt relief, and 61,000 borrowers are receiving $2.5 billion in total and permanent disability discharges.

Additionally, the department approved 85,000 borrowers for $1.26 billion in borrower defense to repayment discharges, which is a program borrowers can apply to for relief if they believe they were defrauded by the schools they attended. That batch of relief includes:

  • $1.15 billion in relief for 73,600 borrowers who attended any school owned by the Center for Excellence in Higher Education between January 1, 2006 through August 1, 2021
  • $107 million in relief or 11,000 borrowers who attended any location of Drake College of Business from January 1, 2008, through its closure on July 31, 2015
  • $1.4 million in relief for 280 borrowers who attended the Criminal Justice Program at Lincoln Technical Institute's campus in Lowell, Massachusetts, from 2010 to 2012 or the Somerville, Massachusetts, campus from 2010 to 2013

This announcement likely marks the last of Biden's debt relief efforts, as President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20. Trump has previously criticized broad student-loan forgiveness.

A senior Biden administration official did not specify whether this is the final debt relief action during a Monday press call.

Millions of borrowers have been on a rocky path to debt relief over the past four years. In August 2022, Biden announced a broad student-loan forgiveness plan using a legal strategy tied to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency that would have canceled up to $20,000 in student debt for borrowers making under $125,000 a year, but the Supreme Court ultimately struck the plan down one year later following a lawsuit from GOP-led states.

Biden's Plan B for broad debt relief, attempting to use the Higher Education Act as its legal authority, was announced the same day as the Supreme Court's decision. That plan also faced legal challenges, and Biden's Education Department withdrew the plan in December. The department said its main focus for the end of Biden's term was helping borrowers manage repayment and maintained that its broader relief plans were legal.

Amid the legal challenges, Biden continued its incremental relief efforts for targeted groups of borrowers, including those in PSLF and borrower defense to repayment. Some higher education experts previously told Business Insider that borrowers should not expect more expansive relief under Trump β€” during his first term, his Education Department ran up a backlog of borrower defense and PSLF relief applications and Trump previously called for PSLF to be eliminated.

Additionally, 8 million borrowers enrolled in Biden's SAVE income-driven repayment plan β€” intended to make payments cheaper with a shorter timeline to forgiveness β€” are on forbearance as they wait for a final court decision on whether the plan can continue. Regardless of the decision, Trump is unlikely to prioritize relief through the plan.

"Since Day One of my Administration, I promised to ensure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier to opportunity, and I'm proud to say we have forgiven more student loan debt than any other administration in history," Biden said in a statement.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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