Public Service Loan Forgiveness Rule Change Undermines the Program

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has amended a rule that redefines employer eligibility to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. 

What the ED calls the “final rule” will exclude any organization that engages in activities that the department deems unlawful or in conflict with established public policy. These activities include aiding undocumented people and providing gender-affirming care, among other things. 

A lawsuit has been filed by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the National Education Association (NEA), the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), as well as 21 state attorneys general for restricting program eligibility. 

During our Spring 2025 Assembly, we adopted a resolution to join AFT in their lawsuit. 

PSLF is an important bipartisan federal program that can lead to borrowers having their remaining student loan balance forgiven. It has the power to lift the burden of student debt not just for educators, but for healthcare professionals and public servants who have committed much of their working lives to serving our communities. 

“To prevent access to the program is to weaponize it against the public service workforce—the teachers, healthcare workers, social workers, first responders, and nonprofit workers—who have been critical of the Trump administration’s attacks on equal opportunity employment, immigrant rights, and gender-affirming care,” said Vang Vang, CFA Treasurer and Fresno State librarian.

Trump’s ongoing attacks and endeavor to erase trans people have made it very difficult for our trans relatives, friends, and/or colleagues, to live openly and safely, much less access the same education that others are receiving. Since he’s taken office, Trump has issued an alarming number of executive orders and approved of anti-trans policies that block trans people from accessing the health care and identity documents they need. Last Thursday, the Supreme Court empowered the Trump administration to require sex designation on U.S. passports to align with a person’s biological sex. 

Despite Trump’s threats to cut off federal funding to hospitals providing gender affirming care, healthcare workers have been pushing back against the restrictions that the government has tried to set.  

In retaliation, the Trump administration has made changes to PSLF eligibility that will negatively impact healthcare workers. 

But the attacks on PSLF are not new. Since his second term, Trump has tried to stop loan cancellations and the processing of PSLF. AFT filed a lawsuit in March 2025 against the ED for unlawfully shutting down or delaying relief under income-driven repayment (IDR) plans and PSLF.  

We recognize that debt impacts how individuals and institutions make decisions, what we prioritize, and how we understand the value of education. For many of us, student loan debt has become deeply entrenched in our lives, leaving us vulnerable to exploitation in a number of ways. 

The harmful nature of the unchecked and mismanaged expansion of debt financialization in higher education further marginalizes workers and systemically disadvantaged and underserved communities. We will do everything we can to fight against it to ensure that public education remains a public good intended to serve all of us.