FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 6, 2021

CONTACT
Carter Dougherty
carter@ourfinancialsecurity.org
(202) 251-6700

Statement: AFR Applauds Administration’s Overhaul of the Broken Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program

Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) applauds the Department of Education’s recent announcement that it will take steps needed to overhaul the broken Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The PSLF program promised student debt forgiveness to borrowers who completed a decade of service in their communities, but for years these borrowers were denied relief and left crushed by the burden of student loan debt due to confusing rules, unfair technicalities, and callous implementation. These failures left hundreds of thousands of public service workers burdened by overwhelming debt that should rightfully have been forgiven. This especially burdened Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, and other students of color who pursued jobs that gave back to their communities and the public. The Department’s new plan will carve a vital path to financial freedom for nurses, teachers, veterans and other public service workers across the country who will finally receive the debt forgiveness they deserve. AFR welcomes this important — and overdue — policy change that comes after   years of work from students and advocates, and will transform the lives of hundreds of thousands of borrowers.  At the same time AFR continues to believe that broad-based student debt cancellation is a vitally important policy step to advance economic and racial justice and we urge the Biden Administration to move forward on it.

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