Sponsor
Richard Blumenthal
Senator · D-CT
Senator · D-CT
The bill speeds and expands PSLF eligibility and reduces paperwork for military and NOAA Corps borrowers, trading off higher federal costs and extra administrative work that could delay processing for other applicants.
Active duty service members and NOAA Corps officers will have prior military deferment and forbearance months counted toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), helping them qualify for loan forgiveness sooner.
Service members and veterans who completed 10 years of full‑time covered active duty can skip separate employment certification for PSLF, reducing paperwork and administrative barriers to obtaining forgiveness.
Eligible service members will be eligible for PSLF regardless of when they enrolled, protecting those who enrolled late or after their service from being excluded.
Taxpayers could face higher federal costs because expanding PSLF qualifying months for service members increases program spending.
The Department of Education will need to implement retroactive counting and waivers, adding administrative work that could slow processing and cause delays for other PSLF applicants (student borrowers).
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Counts certain military/NOAA deferment and forbearance months as qualifying PSLF payments, waives employment certification after 10 years of covered active duty, and removes enrollment‑timing limits for PSLF eligibility.
Official title: Amend section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to modify the eligibility requirements of the public service loan forgiveness program for certain members of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, and the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 22, 2025 by Richard Blumenthal · Last progress May 22, 2025
Makes military and NOAA active‑duty service count more favorably toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). The bill directs the Education Secretary to treat qualifying months of military/National Guard deferment or forbearance as qualifying PSLF payments, waive the usual employment certification if a borrower completed 10 years of full‑time covered active duty during the loan period, and allow eligible borrowers to obtain PSLF regardless of when they enrolled in the PSLF program. This change applies to borrowers whose public service includes or consists of covered active duty service (active duty under Title 10 and full‑time NOAA Commissioned Corps duty), simplifying and expanding PSLF access for servicemembers and similar personnel.