Student Defense Applauds Biden Administration’s Extension of Public Service Loan Forgiveness
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 6, 2021
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press@defendstudents.org | 202-734-7495
Student Defense Applauds Biden Administration’s Extension of Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Student Defense President Aaron Ament today released the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Education’s announcement of reforms to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program:
“Countless public servants across the country believed in the promise of loan discharge when they made their decision to work in the public sector. Unfortunately, the failures of the Department and its servicers made it nearly impossible for public servants to obtain relief. Today’s announcement is a step in the right direction in addressing the student loan crisis facing our country.”
Additional Background
Student Defense made a number of recommendations regarding PSLF reform in its 100 Day Docket, which outlined a series of policy changes the Biden Administration could enact without new legislation. These included reforms that the Department is implementing to provide pathways to relief for student borrowers who were in loan repayment for 10 years while working in public service but were still denied PSLF discharges.
A September 2019 report from the Government Accountability Office found that only 1.26% of PSLF applicants were approved for loan forgiveness and uncovered a number of systemic obstacles that prevented otherwise-qualified borrowers from receiving the same relief. The report also found that the Department of Education had not established comprehensive guidance on PSLF and did not have a standardized list of eligible employers or adequate information sharing between other loan servicers and the PSLF servicer to track qualifying payments.
In July 2019, Student Defense filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education and former education secretary Betsy DeVos on behalf of the American Federation of Teachers for mismanaging PSLF and preventing eligible borrowers from being granted the relief they were clearly entitled to under the law.