Letter to Hon. Miguel Cardona, Secretary of Education - Act on Promised Overhaul of Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program to Help Military Service Members

Letter

Dear Secretary Cardona:

We write regarding the U.S. Department of Education's ("Department") implementation of
recent changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program as they pertain to our
nation's military service members. We applaud the Department for its work to expand access to
and simplify the process of obtaining PSLF, and urge further action in this area.

On October 6, 2021, the Department announced an overhaul of the eligibility requirements that
federal student loan borrowers must meet to secure debt relief through PSLF. As part of this
announcement, the Department indicated that it will "develop and implement a process to
address periods of student loan deferments and forbearance for active-duty service members and
will update affected borrowers to let them know what they need to do to take advantage of this
change." To make these important improvements to PSLF, the Department is utilizing the
authorities provided by the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 (P.L.
108-76), which was passed by Congress in part to make sure that service members do not lose
out on federal student aid benefits due to their military service.

These changes to PSLF will be critically important for service members, veterans, and their
families. An estimated 200,000 servicemembers collectively now owe more than $2.9 billion in
student loans, and many of them planned their financial futures around the promise of eventual
student debt relief. However, a recent Government Accountability Office report indicated that
approximately 94 percent of service members and civilian employees of the U.S. Department of
Defense (DOD) who previously applied for relief through the program have been denied.

The changes announced earlier this month to PSLF are welcome news for hundreds of thousands
of borrowers, and already the Department has begun to notify certain categories of borrowers
who have previously certified periods of employment with the good news of having more of
their payments counted. The Department also announced it would pursue a new data sharing
agreement with DOD to automatically count periods by service members and its civilian
employees toward PSLF. We request that the Department move quickly to implement the
planned changes to count periods of active-duty deferment for service members and to notify
these borrowers of their increase in payments accordingly, and that it provide regular updates
regarding its progress. We also request the Department and DOD will prioritize the new data
sharing agreement to ease administrative burdens on service members and establish this
agreement expediently.

Additionally, we ask that the Department eliminate the need for service members with federal
student loans take additional steps in order to receive the benefits of the expanded PSLF relief so
long as they have fulfilled their required period of military service. And, during the current
negotiated rulemaking process, we ask the Department to codify as many of the administrative
improvements in regulation as possible.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.