It's news in that they're actually unblocking programs which actually had been long legislatively approved paths for forgiveness and were already supposed to have been operating to this end for years.
It's not news in that these are not new categories of, nor expansions of previous commitments to student loan forgiveness.
When you look at the overall stats of student loans, a increasing number of them (a majority!) look like they will be never paid off over their lifetime, and we are still in a situation where if an individual has a small loan problem it's the responsibility of an individual. But if an entire class or multiple-generations (or a big enough individual loan), has problems, then it's a problem for the bank - in this case the US gov't and an even bigger problem of our overall society and providing an sustainable economically competitive skilled labor pool.
It's not news in that these are not new categories of, nor expansions of previous commitments to student loan forgiveness.
When you look at the overall stats of student loans, a increasing number of them (a majority!) look like they will be never paid off over their lifetime, and we are still in a situation where if an individual has a small loan problem it's the responsibility of an individual. But if an entire class or multiple-generations (or a big enough individual loan), has problems, then it's a problem for the bank - in this case the US gov't and an even bigger problem of our overall society and providing an sustainable economically competitive skilled labor pool.