Coalition calls for preservation of federal loan forgiveness program

The ADA is signing onto a coalition letter highlighting the success and importance of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which provides financial relief from student loans and eventual loan forgiveness for qualifying individuals.  

Addressed to the House and Senate education committees, the letter is led by the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Coalition, a group of national organizations working to protect and strengthen the program and income-driven repayment options for public service professionals — including those in health care. 

“[The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program] is a vital tool that strengthens our communities, fills critical workforce shortages and ensures that public service remains an accessible and attainable career path. Accordingly, we strongly oppose actions to restrict eligibility or cut resources to [The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program] given the strength, efficiency and importance of the program,” the coalition wrote in an April 8 letter. 

Enacted 17 years ago, the program is a contract between public service professionals and the federal government in which those who work in public service for 10 years and make 120 loan repayments are forgiven for their remaining debt. It strengthens the country’s schools, hospitals, law enforcement agencies and military, according to the coalition, and cutting resources would force many public servants to leave public service for the private sector. 

The coalition goes on to state that income-driven repayment plans allow public servants the ability to repay their student loans on a scale adjusted to their income and to continue working in their communities. Without them, the coalition said the Public Service Loan Forgiveness repayments “would be prohibitively expensive for many of the program’s participants, rendering it ineffective as a recruitment and retention tool.”

“[The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program] works and millions of American taxpayers reap its benefits every day in communities nationwide. It is a proven investment in America’s workforce that should be safeguarded to ensure communities across the country receive the critical services public service professionals provide. We urge you to honor this agreement and preserve affordable, accessible [income-driven repayment] plans(s) and the [Public Service Loan Forgiveness] program,” the coalition said.