Move will forgive debts for people who borrowed $12,000 or less and have been paying the money back for at least 10 years.
US President Joe Biden has said his administration was canceling $1.2 billion worth of student loans for nearly 153,000 people.
Biden, who is on a three-day campaign tour of California, made the announcement Wednesday as part of a new payment plan that offers a faster path to forgiveness.
Last year, the American leader had pledged to find other avenues to address debt relief after the Supreme Court blocked a broader plan to forgive $430 billion in student loan debt.
“While a college degree remains a ticket to a better life, that ticket is too expensive,” Biden said in a statement.
“And too many Americans are still saddled with unsustainable debt in exchange for a college degree.”
The latest announcement applies to people enrolled in a repayment program known as Savings on a Valuable Education (SAVE) and covers those who borrowed $12,000 or less and have been paying the money back for at least 10 years.
The measure “will particularly help community colleges and other borrowers with smaller loans and put many on the path to freedom from student debt faster than ever,” the White House said.
The Biden administration began sending email notifications Wednesday to some of the borrowers who will benefit from the SAVE program.
The cancellations were originally scheduled to begin in July, but last month the administration said they would be ready almost six months ahead of schedule, in February.
The first round of SAVE forgiveness will free up $1.2 billion in loans.
Borrowers will receive emails with a message from Biden notifying them that “all or a portion of their federal student loans will be forgiven because they qualify for early loan forgiveness under my Administration's SAVE Plan.”
In his email to borrowers, Biden will write that he has heard from “countless people who have told me that easing the burden of their student loan debt will allow them to support themselves and their families, buy their first home, start a small business and move forward with life plans that have been put on hold.”
More than 7.5 million people have signed up for the new payment plan.
Young, progressive voters on the left, whose support Biden needs to win re-election in November, have openly advocated for large-scale student loan forgiveness. Republicans largely oppose such actions.
The White House said the Biden administration has canceled about $138 billion in student debt for nearly 3.9 million people through executive actions.
