In his final hours at the White House, President Joe Biden announced the cancellation of student debt for another 150,000 borrowers.

While he was unable to deliver on his promise of broad student loan forgiveness, President Biden has overseen the cancellation of student debt for more than 5 million Americans - more than any other president in US history.

In the last-minute move on Monday, the Education Department wiped out the loans by utilizing programs that were already in place before Biden took office. 

His administration expanded those programs and used them to their fullest extent, pressing on with cancellation even after the Supreme Court rejected Biden's plan for a new forgiveness policy.

'My Administration has taken historic action to reduce the burden of student debt, hold bad actors accountable, and fight on behalf of students across the country,' Biden said in a written statement.

Critics said he had used the existing programs to create a loophole to get round the court's ruling. 

In total, the administration says it has waived $183.6 billion in student loans.

The wave of cancellation could dry up when President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump hasn't detailed his student loan policies but previously called cancellation 'vile' and illegal. 

Republicans have fought relentlessly against Biden's plans, saying cancellation is ultimately shouldered by taxpayers who never attended college or already repaid their loans.

The latest round of relief mostly comes through a program known as borrower defense, which allows students to get their loans canceled if they're cheated or misled by their colleges. 

It was created in 1994 but rarely used until a wave of high-profile for-profit college scandals during the Obama administration.

A smaller share of the relief came through a program for borrowers with disabilities and through Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which was created in 2007 and offers to erase all remaining debt for borrowers in a government or nonprofit job who make 10 years of monthly payments.

Most of Monday's borrower defense cancellations were for students who attended several defunct colleges owned by Center for Excellence in Higher Education, including CollegeAmerica, Stevens-Henager College, and Independence University.