Trump team puts new limits on student loan forgiveness for public servants
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Linda McMahon speaks during a meeting in the White House on Sept. 4. Photo: Jim Lo Scalzo/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Workers whose organizations are deemed to have ties to a "substantial illegal purpose" will be cut off from a major student loan forgiveness program under a Trump administration rule set to be published in the Federal Register Friday.
The big picture: Those activities range from "supporting terrorism" to providing puberty blockers or hormone therapy to children or teens, forms of gender-affirming care that can be given to transgender young people.
- Aaron Ament, president of Student Defense, which advocates for students' right to education, said his nonprofit would file a lawsuit to challenge the rule over what he described as "illegal overreach."
- He said in a statement that the administration was "playing political football with the financial well-being of people who have dedicated their lives to public service."
Driving the news: The Education Department rule establishes new restrictions to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which are set to take effect July 1, 2026.
- The forgiveness program supports teachers, firefighters, members of law enforcement, non-profit workers and other public servants.
- For employers to be considered "qualifying" under the program, the rule requires they not be involved in activity deemed to have a "substantial illegal purpose."
- Those activities also include aiding violations of immigration laws, engaging in the trafficking of children across state lines "for purposes of emancipation from their lawful parents" and aiding in a pattern of "illegal discrimination."
What's inside: The rule reads, "The revisions strengthen accountability, enhance program integrity, and protect hardworking taxpayers from shouldering the cost of improper subsidies granted to employees of organizations that undermine national security and American values through criminal activity."
Between the lines: Critics of the proposed policy have warned it could be used as a tool of retribution wielded by a department with subjective authority. But the Trump administration has pushed forward on the policy.
- GLAD Law and other LGBTQ+ advocacy groups said in a comment on the proposed rule that it would create an "ad hoc, opaque administrative system that provides the Secretary with significant discretion to disqualify an employer from the PSLF program – making it more costly and difficult to recruit and retain employees."
- Additionally, they said, it could ultimately deprive both minors and adults of necessary medical care.
Context: The rule follows a March executive order that the White House said was aimed at ending forgiveness for "anti-American activists."
- Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said in a news release that the program should not "subsidize organizations that violate the law, whether by harboring illegal immigrants or performing prohibited medical procedures that attempt to transition children away from their biological sex."
Zoom out: The administration has launched a crackdown on gender-affirming care, further complicating the patchwork of state laws for transgender individuals seeking to access care that's been backed by major medical organizations.
- NPR on Thursday exclusively reported on two other proposed rules that would dramatically restrict access to gender-affirming care, one of which would reportedly block Medicaid and Medicare funding for any services at hospitals that provide pediatric gender-affirming care.
Go deeper: Amid Trump changes to key plans, millions are behind on student loans
