Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Almost 55,000 Americans working in the public service will have their collective $4.28 billion worth of student debt forgiven, U.S. President Joe Biden announced Friday.

"The public servants approved for debt cancellation today include teachers, nurses, service members, law enforcement officials, and other public service workers who have dedicated their lives to giving back to their communities and who are finally earning the relief they are entitled to under the law," Biden said in a statement issued by the White House Friday.

The Biden administration has now forgiven federal student loan debt for nearly 5 million people with Friday's news officially affecting 54,900 people, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Biden has made forgiving federal student loan debt one of the priorities of his presidency. One of the pillars of that philosophy included fixing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program that was created in 2007 by President George W. Bush.