550,000 Public Service Workers Closer to Loan Forgiveness
The U.S. Department of Education published new relaxing rules for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program.
The PSLF program was started in 2007 and designed to forgive the student loans for public service workers, but its complex rules and requirements failed to do so in scale.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, only 16,000 borrowers have received student loan forgiveness under the PSLF program.
And the purpose of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was not only to forgive student loans of borrowers but to attract new graduates to public service jobs and help them stay and work in those high-need fields. But the PSLF program did not live up to its promises for many student loan borrowers.
That is why the new policy establishes a set of actions that will provide student loan debt relief to many more public service workers, including the nurses, teachers, firefighters, and others performing essential public service.
Essentially the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program cancels student loans of public servants after ten years of public service.
And the new set of rules will enhance eligibility requirements to include in the current PSLF program loan types and payment plans that were not previously eligible.
Also, a time-limited waiver will allow student loan borrowers to count repayment plans and payments made from all federal loan programs toward the student loan forgiveness.
As a result of the recent PSLF overhaul, the federal government estimates that at least 550 000 student loan borrowers will get help and progress toward loan forgiveness and debt relief.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, almost 22,000 borrowers will be eligible for immediate federal student loan discharge. In addition, another 27,000 could potentially qualify for loan forgiveness after providing certification for additional periods of employment in the public service domain.