The Education Department says it will simplify the process for student loan borrowers to apply for an expansion of a troubled loan forgiveness program. In 2019, a watchdog found 99% of applicants were turned away during the expansion program's first year.
In response to an outcry from borrowers and lawmakers, in 2018 Congress set aside $700 million for TEPSLF — to help borrowers who had fulfilled their public service but who were, unbeknownst to them, in the wrong repayment plan. While the program was meant to help thousands of public servants who felt unfairly excluded from PSLF, its burdensome requirement that they first be denied PSLF created what Emrey-Arras calls a"bureaucratic nightmare."in September.
"What sort of Kafkaesque thing are we in here?" Matthew Austin told NPR in September. His wife, Heather, a teacher, had been denied TEPSLF for her federal student loans. The explanation given, Austin said:"because we had not been denied for PSLF."Austin said that the rejection was demoralizing and pushed him and Heather to abandon their hope of loan forgiveness. But after being contacted by NPR, they reapplied one last time.
It's unclear how many of the original 38,000-plus denied TEPSLF applicants still technically qualify for loan forgiveness, like the Austins, and simply need to reapply. On Thursday, lawmakers welcomed the consolidation of application forms but also warned Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that the department's efforts to improve the PSLF and TEPSLF programs should not stop here."The department's lack of urgency in helping borrowers navigate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program has left applicants confused, panicked and rightfully frustrated," said Rep. Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat and chairman of the House education committee.
When asked how it feels to have more than $40,000 in student loans forgiven, Austin laughed and said it has allowed him and his wife to"turn our eyes forward, because we can stop making payments on colleges from 12 years ago and we can start saving for college 10 years in our kids' future."
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