Congress created Public Service Loan Forgiveness in 2007, hoping to encourage promising college graduates into public service careers
2024-08-25
S. Department of Education would forgive whatever remained of their federal student loans
According to the GAO’s yearlong review of the program, 71% of all TEPSLF denials were rejected because of this one hurdle – asking borrowers to first apply for a program they know they do not qualify for. That’s 38,068 requests denied. It is unclear how many of those borrowers, once they are denied PSLF, would technically qualify for TEPSLF.
This can be confusing to borrowers, the GAO’s Emrey-Arras tells NPR. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, from a borrower perspective, as to why you would need to apply for a program that you know you’re ineligible for. Yet that’s the way the process works.
The Education Department has not created a borrower-friendly TEPSLF process, the GAO says. This does not align with Education’s strategic plan objective to improve the quality of service to customers across the student aid life cycle.
The Austins found the process so confusing that after being rejected for TEPSLF, instead of further pleading their case with their loan servicer or the Education Department, they contacted one of their U.S. senators. And members of Congress are listening.
[The Education Department has] not competently administered this program, says U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat and chairman of the House education committee. He vows to hold public hearings about the department’s handling of PSLF and now TEPSLF.The students are entitled to it, Scott adds. They have fulfilled their responsibility over a decade of public service, and they’re entitled by law to have those loans discharged. … It is the constitutional responsibility of the executive branch to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and we will focus public attention on the fact that they are not doing it.
