Education Department drops PSLF challenge: What does it mean for borrowers?

The Trump administration has dropped its legal fight to impose new restrictions on Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), handing a major victory to the roughly 2.3 million borrowers pursuing the popular federal program.

The Justice Department on Wednesday, October 21, withdrew its appeals of two June court rulings that struck down the administration’s revised eligibility requirements for PSLF, which cancels the education debt of government and nonprofit employees after 10 years of service and 120 monthly payments.

Following a Trump executive order, the Education Department had sought to give Secretary Linda McMahon sweeping authority to disqualify employers, not individuals, that engaged in diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

Following a Trump executive order, the Education Department had sought to give A broad coalition of nonprofits, state and city governments, and labour organizations sued to block the rules, and federal judges concluded the regulations were unlawful and not authorized by Congress.

By dismissing its appeal, the administration leaves current PSLF rules intact, and borrowers face no immediate changes. Still, other challenges loom, such as the Education Department recently removes some borrowers’ qualifying payments, citing Biden-era coding errors, and many report delays in getting payments countered toward, relief, leaving them in limbo.