America's first responders, social workers, park rangers, nonprofit workers, members of our Armed Forces, teachers, and nurses face possible harms from the current injunction preventing the U.S. Department of Education from implementing parts of the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan and other income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. We demand action to protect America's public servants from losing progress under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program due to these lawsuits. We want to pay our loans, and we want our government to uphold their promise to us for PSLF.

Forgiving student loans has become part of our nation’s increasingly volatile cultural wars, however, PSLF has traditionally had bipartisan support, and should be left separate and unharmed from this culture war. This game of political one-upmanship has made many of us increasingly fearful regarding PSLF’s fate and doubtful that the government will honor its promise to forgive our loans after a decade of service to our country.  

What is Public Service Loan Forgiveness?

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) was signed into law on October 7, 2007 by President George W. Bush, as part of the bipartisan College Cost Reduction and Access Act.

Those who choose to work for a PSLF-qualifying employer (e.g., military personnel, nurses, first responders, teachers, social workers, nonprofit workers), are promised through this program to pay their student loans for no more than 10 years, making 120 on-time payments while on a qualifying payment plan, in exchange for labor in public service jobs. Public service jobs often require advanced degrees, yet offer lower salaries compared to private sector positions. High levels of student loan debt can lead to high turnover rates in public service positions, as individuals might leave for higher-paying opportunities to manage their debt. This pay disparity can make it challenging for talented individuals to choose or remain in public service careers. PSLF was introduced to make public service careers more financially attractive by providing a pathway to loan forgiveness. After making 120 qualifying payments while working in public service, the remaining balance is to be discharged.

Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plans have been around for several decades, evolving over time to provide more flexible repayment options for federal student loan borrowers based on their income and family size. In order to earn credit towards PSLF, borrowers MUST be enrolled in a qualifying IDR payment plan. Previous and existing IDR payment plans include: Income Contingent Repayment Plan (1994); Income-Based Repayment Plan (2009); Pay As You Earn Plan (2012); Revised Pay As You Earn Plan (2015); SAVE Plan (2023).

How PSLF Borrowers are Impacted by The Payment Pause

As a result of the lawsuits against the SAVE plan, servicers have temporarily paused student loan payments by placing borrowers in a forbearance, and have paused all processing of applications to enroll in a new or different IDR plans. This means that public service workers are continuing to work for qualifying employers, but those trapped in the SAVE plan are unable to make qualifying payments and are unable to switch off from the plan. The months passing will not count towards their hard-earned labor-exchanged forgiveness. 

Many of us within this program have been working in often thankless public service positions and paying our loans dutifully for a decade or more, and are just months away from being able to make our 120th qualifying payment. For many in this program, reaching this milestone means finally being able to buy a house, start a family, or leave public service to start a business---yet these milestones are currently being held hostage due to these culture wars and lawsuits that prevent us from continuing to make qualifying payments.

The Department of Education website states that some borrowers can buy back months that don’t count as qualifying payments for PSLF due to being placed in an ineligible deferment or forbearance status. However, this is not good enough. Many borrowers who have applied for buy back so far have complained of "lost applications" or that they have been waiting for many months with no response or decision. This is unacceptable.

We Demand Protection 

Forgiving student loans has become part of our nation’s increasingly volatile cultural wars, however, PSLF has traditionally had bipartisan support, and should be left unharmed from this culture war.  This game of political one-upmanship has made many of us increasingly fearful regarding PSLF’s fate and doubtful that the government will honor its promise to forgive our loans after a decade of service.  

Through this petition, we demand America's leaders to work together to ensure that our public servants are not negatively impacted by these legal challenges aimed at loan forgiveness pathways that were not enacted through bipartisan legislation. Since PSLF exists separate from the SAVE plan that several states are suing over, the injunction should not impact those working towards PSLF. Public servants need to immediately be offered a viable payment plan to switch to so they can continue making qualifying payments on their student loans. The other option is for this time in forbearance to automatically count for all PSLF borrowers towards the 120 qualifying payment periods.

Do not leave us in the dark. We deserve to know that we have a path forward in this program we signed a legal agreement for within our Master Promissory Notes.

Thank you,