The Department of Education issued a request for information last week on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program to better understand how it can be fixed.
Members of the public are asked to submit written comments by Sept. 24 on the parts of PSLF that are most difficult to navigate, the barriers preventing public service workers from pursuing PSLF and the experiences of borrowers with loans outside the Direct Loan program in participating in PSLF.
“Fixing the PSLF Program has been a priority for the Biden-Harris Administration since day one,” said acting under secretary Julie Margetta Morgan in a blog post. “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.”
Public Service Loan Forgiveness is one of the topics the department is considering for upcoming negotiated rule making, and several speakers called attention to how the program can be improved during the public hearings held last month. The program, which is intended to provide loan forgiveness for those who spend at least 10 years working in public service while repaying their loans, hasn’t worked as expected — recent data from the department show that only 2 percent of the application forms processed so far have met the requirements for PSLF.
