By Tom Anderson, Director of Government Relations
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program was established under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, with the intent of forgiving loans for individuals who work in public service careers. Ideally, this program would spark interest in public sector careers, which most often cannot compete with the higher-paying private sector positions. When this law was passed, it had deep bipartisan support and won significant praise from both sides of the aisle. Former Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the bill’s lead sponsor, said this was “the greatest investment to help students and parents pay for college since the G.I. Bill.” However, PSLF was not the transformational legislation that legislators had hoped it would be. Nearly all stakeholders have admitted that the implementation of this program has been a failure, with a recent report showing that less than 2% of eligible individuals, who have dedicated their lives to public service, are receiving the loan relief that was promise to them.
The White House has acknowledged the program failures as well. Julie Margetta Morgan, Senior Advisor and Acting Under Secretary for the Office of the Under Secretary of Education, stated that “Fixing the PSLF Program has been a priority for the Biden-Harris Administration since day one. While we have identified many opportunities for improvement by talking to experts and borrowers and reviewing our procedures, we want to hear from you as well.”3 In order to gather additional information, which is one of the initial steps toward fixing the program, the US Department of Education has begun gathering public comments through the formal Request for Information process.
If you have been impacted by the failures of the PSLF program and want to see the program changed for the better, please click here to submit a statement to the US Department of Education. They need to hear from those who have gone through this process to find solutions and to create desperately needed changes to this program. The US Department of Education is specifically seeking information on the features of PSLF that are the most difficult for borrowers to navigate; the barriers that prevent public service workers from pursuing PSLF or receiving student loan forgiveness under PSLF, and any other borrower experiences as part of the PSLF program.4 You do not need to be an expert on PSLF. You just need to be willing to share your opinion.
The data is clear. The intent of the law is not being followed and the promise to forgive loans in exchange for public service is not being fulfilled. The US Department of Education, the White House, and legislators from both sides of the aisle realize this program needs to be fixed, but they need your input to do it correctly. Please reach out to us with any questions.
You can read all of the public comments that have already been submitted here, and you can see Students United’s public comment on PSLF here.