Public Service Loan Forgiveness: Opportunities for Education to Improve Both the Program and Its Temporary Expanded Process. Testimony before the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment, Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives. GAO-19-717T

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program was established in 2007 and forgives borrowers' remaining federal student loan balances after they have made at least 10 years of qualifying loan payments while working in public service. Starting in September 2017, the first borrowers potentially became eligible for the PSLF program and began applying to have their loans forgiven. In 2018, Congress appropriated $700 million to temporarily expand the PSLF program for certain borrowers who initially did not qualify for the program. This statement--based on the US Government Accountability Office's (GAO's) reports issued in September 2018 (GAO-18-547; see ED600417) and September 2019 (GAO-19-595; see ED600140)--discusses: (1) the extent to which borrowers' requests for loan forgiveness through PSLF and the temporary expanded process have been approved or denied; (2) the extent to which Education provides the PSLF servicer with sufficient information to administer the program; and (3) opportunities for improving service to borrowers.