A new report from a government watchdog, first obtained obtained by NPR, says an expanded effort by Congress to forgive the student loans of public servants is remarkably unforgiving.

Congress created the expansion program last year in response to a growing outcry. Thousands of borrowers – nurses, teachers and other public servants – complained that the requirements for the original program were so rigid and poorly communicated that lawmakers needed to step in. But, documents show, even this expansion of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program isn’t working.

The couple was looking forward to the day when, under the original PSLF program, the Education Department would forgive her student loans

According to the review out Thursday, conducted by the Government Accountability Office, the U.S. Department of Education processed roughly 54,000 requests and approved just 661. It spent only $27 million of the $700 million Congress set aside for the expansion.

We were disheartened, says Melissa Emrey-Arras, who led the GAO’s review. I think we were discouraged. I mean, the hope is that you have this temporary expanded process, and you want it to help a lot of people. And you don’t want borrowers to be confused about the eligibility criteria and to face a high denial rate. And yet, that’s what we found.

In a statement to NPR, Education Department press secretary Angela Morabito says, The Department has taken steps to help borrowers better understand the complex eligibility requirements, application process, benefits, and other information related to the PSLF and TEPSLF programs. The Department agrees with the GAO’s recommendations about how to improve the programs; a number of our efforts are already underway.

What sort of Kafkaesque thing are we in here? asks Matthew Austin, exasperated by his recent experience with the PSLF expansion. Celý příspěvek →