A letter to the Education Department asks that the deadline be extended through next June. Image: smolaw/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffA group of some 100 Democratic House and Senate members has urged the Biden administration to extend the October 31 deadline for a special waiver period under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
The waiver allows borrowers to receive credit for past payments that wouldn’t otherwise meet standards under the program, which allows federal employees among others in public service jobs who have been current on their payments for 10 years to have the remaining balance forgiven. The waiver period offers the potential to make eligible additional types of loans as well as payments that weren’t made on time or for the full amount or made through other than standard repayment plans.
A letter to the Education Department asks that the deadline be extended through next June when proposed rules to expand coverage in the program are set to take effect. It said that since the waiver was announced a year ago, 189,000 have had their student loans forgiven though the program and 1 million have received an average of one additional year of PSLF credit.
However, the letter cited an estimate by an industry group that only 15 percent of the 9 million public service workers with student debt have filed paperwork to track their qualifying payments under PSLF. They also raised concerns about complications in the program if the waiver ends before the rules changes take effect.
“Extending the PSLF waiver will also allow more military service members and federal employees to make progress towards loan forgiveness through PSLF. Though the Department has announced that it is currently working to ensure that all federal agencies and departments automatically provide credit for PSLF for members of the military and federal employees, this program is not yet in place,” it says.
Federal employee organizations and agencies have sent out numerous reminders about the upcoming deadline.
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