AASA Urges Secretary Cardona to Fix the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program

September 22, 2021

On September 22, AASA joined an allied coalition letter asking Secretary Cardona and the Department of Education (ED) to take administrative action to ensure that all public service workers who have completed a decade of service receive the debt relief they were promised through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program.

Since the first public service workers became eligible for debt cancellation in 2017, 98 percent of those who applied have been rejected. Despite reassurances from ED that these were just initial missteps and that rates of debt cancellation granted under this program would improve over time, year after year there are widespread denials without explanation. 

Recent data obtained by the Student Borrower Protection Center showed that ED rejected more than 4,500 school employees as they sought to certify that their employment counts for the program. In some cases, educators were rejected for seemingly minor bureaucratic mix-ups, such as checking the wrong box or missing a date next to a signature. Others were wrongfully rejected on the basis that the school did not qualify as a public service employer.

It is time for ED to address the underlying problems causing these systematic failures. In the letter, the coalition emphasized the importance of retroactive relief, prospective changes for future participants and highlighted three principles for ED to follow when delivering debt relief: 

• Eliminate all student debt owed by those who have served for a decade or more.
• Grant one year of credit for each year of service for all public service workers who owe any type of federal student loan. 
• Ensure relief to public service workers is automatic.

Public service workers have been the backbone of our communities throughout the ongoing pandemic and beyond. It is crucial that ED fix the PSLF Program to ensure these groups receive the debt relief they’ve earned.