Notice2021-15831
Request for Information Regarding the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program
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Published
July 26, 2021
Issuing agencies
Education Department
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Education (Department) is requesting information in the form of written comments that may include information, research, and suggestions regarding the administration of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The Office of the Under Secretary solicits these comments to identify operational improvements to the PSLF program and to inform determinations about technical improvements, borrower experiences, policy considerations, or other factors that should be considered to improve access to PSLF.
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 140 (Monday, July 26, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 140 (Monday, July 26, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40029-40031]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-15831]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[Docket ID ED--2021--OUS--0082]
Request for Information Regarding the Public Service Loan
Forgiveness Program
AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Education.
ACTION: Request for information.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Education (Department) is requesting
information in the form of written comments that may include
information, research, and suggestions regarding the administration of
the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The Office of the
Under Secretary solicits these comments to identify operational
improvements to the PSLF program and to inform determinations about
technical improvements, borrower experiences, policy considerations, or
other factors that should be considered to improve access to PSLF.
DATES: We must receive your comments on or before September 24, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Submit your response to this request for information (RFI)
through the Federal eRulemaking Portal. We will not accept submissions
by hand delivery, fax, or email. To ensure that we do not receive
duplicate copies, please submit your comments only one time. To ensure
that your comments have maximum effect in informing the Department's
administration of the PSLF program, we encourage you to clearly
identify the question number or topic (e.g., ``borrower experience,''
``proposed administrative/operational improvement,'' and ``proposed
policy change,'') that each comment addresses.
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> to
submit your comments electronically. Information on using
<a href="http://Regulations.gov">Regulations.gov</a>, including instructions for accessing agency documents,
submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site
under ``FAQ.''
<bullet> Postal Mail or Commercial Delivery: If you do not have
internet access or electronic submission is not possible, you may mail
written comments to the Office of the Under Secretary, U.S. Department
of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, Room [7E307], Washington, DC
20202. Mailed comments must be postmarked by September 24, 2021, to be
accepted.
Privacy Note: The Department's policy is to make all comments
received from members of the public available for public viewing in
their entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. Therefore, commenters should be careful to include
in their comments only information that they wish to make publicly
available.
This is a request for information only. This RFI is not a request
for proposals (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP or a notice inviting
applications. This RFI does not commit the Department to contract for
any supply or service whatsoever. Further, we are not seeking proposals
and will not accept unsolicited proposals. The Department will not pay
for any information or administrative costs that you may incur in
responding to this RFI. The documents and information submitted in
response to this RFI become the property of the U.S. Government and
will not be returned.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jean-Didier Gaina, U.S. Department
of Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, Room 2C172, Washington, DC 20202.
Telephone: (202) 453-7551. Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#81ebe4e0eface5e8e5e8e4f3afe6e0e8efe0c1e4e5afe6eef7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3b515e5a55165f525f525e49155c5a52555a7b5e5f155c544d">[email protected]</span></a>.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-
800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
It is critical for our Nation to maintain a highly educated public
service workforce to serve as teachers, nurses, physicians,
servicemembers in our military, social workers, legal aid attorneys,
and first responders, and in a wide range of other roles that serve our
communities. Concerns about shortages across the public sector and
public service workforce have persisted for decades.
In response to these concerns about workforce shortages and rising
student debt burdens, Congress enacted the College Cost Reduction and
Access Act (Pub. L. 110-84) in 2007, creating a range of new benefits
and protections for student loan borrowers, including the PSLF program.
PSLF offers loan cancellation for Federal student loan borrowers who
make 120 qualifying payments made while engaging in eligible public
service work.\1\
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\1\ Under the current rules, borrowers with William D. Ford
Federal Direct Loans can make qualifying payments toward PSLF, and
borrowers with Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) can consolidate
into Direct Consolidation Loans to become eligible for PSLF.
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The Department is committed to addressing the barriers to attaining
PSLF and to providing debt relief to public service workers. To that
end, the Department has announced its plans to establish negotiated
rulemaking committees to prepare proposed regulations for programs
authorized under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as
amended (86 FR 28299), including the PSLF program under 34 CFR 685.219.
However, the Department recognizes that there may be improvements it
can make in the operational administration of the program outside of
the regulatory process. Through this RFI, the Department seeks comments
from the public to identify such operational opportunities to
strengthen the PSLF program. For example, we are interested in ways
that we might eliminate administrative barriers to borrowers receiving
PSLF. Below, we provide questions to guide responses to this RFI.
Although we do not intend to respond to comments received in response
to this RFI, public input may inform non-
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regulatory action by the Department to make this critical program work
better for borrowers. Comments with respect to regulatory matters must
be made as part of the negotiated rulemaking process.
II. Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program
After Congress enacted the College Cost Reduction and Access Act 14
years ago, the Department promulgated regulations to implement the PSLF
program. The Department also entered into a contract with the
Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (d/b/a FedLoan
Servicing) to serve as the sole specialty student loan servicer
handling borrowers who signal intent to pursue PSLF. Under 34 CFR
685.219, the Department established and subsequently revised the
criteria a borrower must satisfy in order to have debts cancelled under
PSLF.
Specifically, these regulations require a student loan borrower to
satisfy five elements. To receive PSLF, a borrower must-- \2\
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\2\ <a href="https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service">https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service</a>.
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<bullet> Be employed by a U.S. Federal, State, local, or Tribal
government or not-for-profit organization; \3\
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\3\ See 34 CFR 685.219 for the complete definition of ``public
service organization.''
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<bullet> Work full-time for that agency or organization or the
equivalent of full-time across multiple agencies or organizations;
<bullet> Have Direct Loans (or consolidate other Federal student
loans into a Direct Loan);
<bullet> Repay those loans under an income-driven repayment or
standard repayment plan; and
<bullet> Make 120 qualifying payments.
From 2007 through 2012, public service workers with student debt
tracked their own progress toward meeting the requirements for PSLF.
When borrowers working in public service had questions about
eligibility, the Department's servicers were borrowers' primary source
of information about PSLF. Beginning in 2012, the Department offered
student loan borrowers the opportunity to submit an Employer
Certification Form (ECF) as a way for borrowers to provide
documentation of qualifying employment throughout their service and to
ensure their employer was a qualifying employer. In November 2020, the
Department combined the ECF into a single application that also allows
borrowers to have their status checked for PSLF and Temporary Expanded
PSLF (TEPSLF) (Pub. L. 115-141), described below. As of November 30,
2020, student loan borrowers had submitted nearly 5 million individual
ECFs.\4\ As of April 30, 2021, another 391,333 combined applications
were submitted.\5\
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\4\ <a href="https://studentaid.gov/data-center/student/loan-forgiveness/pslf-data">https://studentaid.gov/data-center/student/loan-forgiveness/pslf-data</a>.
\5\ <a href="https://studentaid.gov/data-center/student/loan-forgiveness/pslf-data">https://studentaid.gov/data-center/student/loan-forgiveness/pslf-data</a>.
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On October 1, 2017, the first public service workers with student
debt became eligible to receive PSLF. Since that time, the Department
has discharged $452,691,032 in student debt owed by 5,467 individual
public service workers as of April 30, 2021.\6\
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\6\ <a href="https://studentaid.gov/data-center/student/loan-forgiveness/pslf-data">https://studentaid.gov/data-center/student/loan-forgiveness/pslf-data</a>.
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However, to date nearly 98 percent of student loan borrowers who
have applied for PSLF did not receive forgiveness at the time of their
application, however the majority of these borrowers have made some
progress toward cancellation.\7\ In response to the problems borrowers
have faced while trying to access PSLF, the Department's Federal
Student Aid office has started taking important steps to make
improvements to the program.\8\ Lump-sum payments and prepayments,
which would not have previously counted for the purposes of PSLF, will
now count toward borrowers' PSLF qualifying payments for up to 12
months. FSA also launched a new PSLF Help Tool in November 2020 to make
it easier for borrowers to navigate PSLF to determine their eligibility
and, as noted above, created a single form that allows borrowers to
certify their employment and apply for PSLF and TEPSLF.\9\
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\7\ <a href="https://studentaid.gov/data-center/student/loan-forgiveness/pslf-data">https://studentaid.gov/data-center/student/loan-forgiveness/pslf-data</a>.
\8\ <a href="https://studentaid.gov/articles/see-whats-new-pslf-program/">https://studentaid.gov/articles/see-whats-new-pslf-program/</a>.
\9\ <a href="https://studentaid.gov/pslf/">https://studentaid.gov/pslf/</a>.
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In response to the first reports of widespread PSLF application
denials, Congress temporarily expanded PSLF to provide debt relief to a
broader population of student loan borrowers, establishing TEPSLF. In
the three years since TEPLSF was first established, an additional 2,962
public service workers have had approximately $130 million discharged,
while more than 96 percent of TEPSLF applications have not resulted in
forgiveness.\10\
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\10\ <a href="https://studentaid.gov/data-center/student/loan-forgiveness/pslf-data">https://studentaid.gov/data-center/student/loan-forgiveness/pslf-data</a>.
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III. Solicitation of Comments: Strengthening the Operational
Implementation of Public Service Loan Forgiveness
The Department recognizes the importance of making the PSLF
requirements as clear as possible for millions of public service
workers and is actively working to make improvements to the program's
administration. To help inform those efforts, the Department is seeking
input from the public on ways to strengthen the operational
implementation of PSLF through changes outside of regulations. The
deadline for these submissions is September 24, 2021.
The Department encourages comments from individual students and
student loan borrowers; organizations representing students and student
loan borrowers; labor unions and other organizations representing
public service workers; legal services providers and other
organizations that provide counseling or direct assistance to student
loan borrowers; public service employers; researchers and policy
experts; student loan market participants; institutions of higher
education; and other members of the public.
The Department is interested in responses to the specific questions
below, as well as the general concepts and topics identified as they
relate to PSLF. The Department is also interested in responses
describing individual student loan borrowers' experiences while working
in public service or pursuing PSLF. When responding to this RFI, please
address one or more of the following questions:
Public Service & Student Debt
1. What are the direct and indirect effects of student debt on
America's public service workforce?
2. What are the direct and indirect benefits of PSLF for America's
public service workforce, including the effects of PSLF on individual
borrowers, on the labor market, on communities, and on the populations
served by public service workers?
3. Does PSLF provide a strong incentive for borrowers to engage in
public service work? How are public service workers' employment
decisions affected by their debt and by PSLF?
Experiences With Public Service Loan Forgiveness
4. What borrower experiences should the Department and Congress
consider when making improvements to PSLF?
5. What features of PSLF are most difficult for borrowers to
navigate?
6. What role do loan servicers play in making it easier or harder
for borrowers to access PSLF?
7. What barriers prevent public service workers with student debt
from pursuing PSLF or receiving loan forgiveness under PSLF?
[[Page 40031]]
8. For borrowers who have or had loans other than from the Direct
Loan program, what have your experiences been when trying to access or
participate in PSLF?
9. How can communications about PSLF requirements be improved?
10. What are the common questions that borrowers have about PSLF?
Opportunities To Strengthen PSLF for Borrowers Who Currently Work in
Public Service
11. What operational steps can the Department take to strengthen
PSLF and better serve public service workers who currently owe student
debt, including borrowers who have already applied for and been denied
PSLF?
12. What steps can the Department take to improve borrowers'
experiences in applying for PSLF?
13. What steps or improvements can servicers make to improve
borrowers' experiences in applying for PSLF?
14. What can the Department do to better partner with employers to
ensure that all borrowers know about the benefits of PSLF?
The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Student Loan Borrowers Working
in Public Service
15. How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected borrowers' ability to
access PSLF?
16. Are there any considerations about PSLF that the Department
should bear in mind as it prepares for the end of the COVID-19
administrative forbearance on Direct Loans?
Accessible Format: On request to the program contact person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, individuals with disabilities
can obtain this document in an accessible format. The Department will
provide the requestor with an accessible format that may include Rich
Text Format (RTF) or text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 file,
braille, large print, audiotape, or compact disc, or other accessible
format.
Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of
Federal Regulations at <a href="http://www.govinfo.gov">www.govinfo.gov</a>. At this site you can view this
document, as well as all other documents of this Department published
in the Federal Register, in text or Portable Document Format (PDF). To
use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at
the site.
You may also access documents of the Department published in the
Federal Register by using the article search feature at
<a href="http://www.federalregister.gov">www.federalregister.gov</a>. Specifically, through the advanced search
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published
by the Department.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1087e(m).
Julie Margetta Morgan,
Delegated the authority to perform the functions and duties of the
Under Secretary, Senior Advisor, Office of the Under Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-15831 Filed 7-23-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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