Federal overhaul equals easing of student debt for public servants

By
November 4, 2021
In Commentary, Higher Ed

Encouraging news from the U.S. Department of Education earlier this month means many public servants, which includes nurses, teachers, nonprofit employees, government workers, and others, will find it easier to have their student debt forgiven after 10 years of payments.  

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program was meant to encourage college graduates to spend a good portion of their careers in public service work, which often pays less than private employment, by promising them their student debt remaining after 10 years of payments would be forgiven. But a poorly run and difficult to navigate process meant hundreds of thousands of Americans applied and believed they had met the requirements, but only about 2% were getting their loans forgiven.  

The changes to PSLF are temporary, and systemic problems must still be addressed at the state and federal level. The NCGA should continue to move House Bill 707, which will offer protections to borrowers not covered by the overhaul. But public servants with student debt can assess their eligibility and begin the process of applying for forgiveness here:  

The Department of Education’s PSLF Help Tool.  

The changes are summarized here and include a waiver that will count payments toward credit for the program regardless of the type of loan the student borrower carries. This waiver is in effect until October 31, 2022, so borrowers must apply within the next year.  

Qualifying payments will also be broadened to include payments that were previously not counted because they were off by a small amount or late a few days. Active-duty military will see their months spent serving our country count toward PSLF certification even if their loans were in deferment or forbearance, and will be given automatic credit for PSLF by virtue of their enlistment. The Department of Education will also review denials, correct errors, and improve outreach.  

So many public servants took on careers that paid them less but filled our society’s vital needs. They made sacrifices and poured their talents and energies into work that benefits us all. Their difficulty getting credit after good faith efforts to fulfill the requirements of PSLF have been sad and unjust. We appreciate these temporary improvements and look forward to more progress toward a healthy higher education system through state and federal policy reforms. 


Rochelle Sparko is Director of North Carolina Policy at the Center for Responsible Lending.

For more on student loan debt in North Carolina and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, click below to listen to Policy Watch’s recent podcast with Sparko.

Read the Fine Print: Court Costs

By
April 25, 2011
In Read the Fine Print: Special Provisions

This article is part of a series lifting the veil on the numerous and profound changes to vital North Carolina programs and services made in the lengthy and wonky special provisions of the budget.  We’re starting with the special provisions in the House budget and will continue when the Senate releases its version of the budget.

Special provision in focus: Justice & Public Safety

This special provisions and the policy changes included can be categorized as:

  • Just plain sticking it to all those [insert type] people

Special provisions attached to the budget suggested by the House budget subcommittee on Justice and Public Safety outline over $80 million in new and increased court fees that are intended to offset state appropriations to the legal system. That’s a lot of dough by any standards, but the real kicker is that those dollars may exist mostly in the minds of legislators, not the wallets of those in the justice system. It’s completely unrealistic to assume that raising the statutory fees will result in 100% of the fee revenue forecasted. As anyone who has worked in or around the court system knows, not every plaintiff and defendant is flush with cash these days.

And talk about kicking people when they’re down – the special provisions suggest we should double the court fee assessed on foreclosures, from $150 to $300 per foreclosure. Yes, you heard that right. As we’re mucking our way out of a deep, dark recession caused mostly by wild financial speculation on mortgages and irresponsible lenders, our legislators have the gall to suggest that North Carolinians who are in the heartwrenching process of losing their homes should shoulder more of the cost of providing core government services.

Of course, we’ll probably be told it will all work out to our advantage because they’ll be cutting corporate taxes as part of the budget. So, the banks that wrote the mortgage to the family now in foreclosure will get a tax cut, and the family losing their house will just have to go a little bit deeper into debt than they already were thanks to the court’s new, higher foreclosure fee. Why would anyone object to THAT scenario?