Published: September 2024

Letter urges Department of Education to extend critical student loan borrower protections

Amid legal challenges to the Saving for A Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, advocates urged the Department of Education to ensure that servicers inform borrowers of their right to apply for SAVE and that they grant forbearance for all borrowers waiting in the pipeline—and that the forbearance time counts toward PSLF and IDR discharges. The groups also urged the Department to extend “on-ramp” protections and the “Fresh Start” program.

In a letter to U.S. Department of Education (ED) Secretary Miguel Cardona, more than a hundred advocacy groups urged the Department to extend and strengthen crucial programs to protect student loan borrowers amid ongoing litigation over the Saving for A Valuable Education (SAVE) plan. While ED did place borrowers who had been enrolled in the SAVE Plan into a zero-interest forbearance while the Department defends the SAVE plan in court, the groups expressed concern about the Department’s decision to not allow this time in forbearance to count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) or Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) loan forgiveness. Also, the Administration’s current "on-ramp" protections, which have helped shield borrowers from many of the harshest economic consequences of falling behind on their student loans, and the deadline to enroll in the "Fresh Start" program, which enables borrowers in default to get back into repayment more easily, were both scheduled to end in September. The advocates pressed the Department to: ensure that: servicers inform borrowers of their right to apply for SAVE and grant forbearance for all borrowers waiting in the pipeline; the forbearance time counts toward PSLF and IDR discharges; and “on-ramp” protections and the “Fresh Start” program are extended.

Lead Organization

Student Borrower Protection Center and The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS)

More Information

Read the letter here.

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