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Oct. 17 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden officially launched the federal government's online portal to begin processing student loan forgiveness applications on Monday. The launch was without technical difficulties and the site - studentaid.gov - is now live, processing up to $20,00 in student debt for eligible borrowers.
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App testing occurred over the weekend, successfully processing 8 million applications, which weren't formally processed until Monday, according to a White House statement.
"This is a gamechanger for millions of Americans. We're getting moving. And it took an incredible amount of effort to get this website done in such a short time," Biden said on Monday, alongside Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.
"And the Secretary insisted that it had to be tested over the weekend. It landed and handled more than 8 million applications without a glitch or any difficulty."
In September, the Biden administration said it expected up to 40 million federal student loan borrowers to benefit from the loan forgiveness initiative.
It reversed course partially later that month, amid Republican legal challenges. Borrowers with privately held federal student loans no longer will be able to receive loan forgiveness under the updated plan. Several million of the 45 million Americans who owe federal student loans fall into that category.
Cardona said on Monday the government continues "working on pathways" to support borrowers who are excluded by the eligibility requirements.
Eligible borrowers can receive up to $10,000 in federal student debt and up to $20,000 if they received a Pell Grant for people earning less than $125,000 a year.
"We had over 10,000 people contact the White House and be - either send us letters or calls thanking us," Biden said on Monday.
