THE PARAMETERS OF TRUST: PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS AND PRIORITIZING RELIABLE AGENCY COMMUNICATIONS

In 2007, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program was enacted to encourage qualified individuals to seek employment in the public sector. A decade later in 2017, the first round of qualified applicants are eligible to receive forgiveness on the remaining balances of their student loans provided they work for a qualifying employer and have made 120 on-time payments under an approved repayment program. However, the PSLF program has been criticized as duplicative and expensive, resulting in the current administration's decision to eliminate or modify, it This comment explores the issue of whether an individual can justifiably rely on a program, such as the PSLF program, that induces the public to change their behavior according to various regulations. In order to restore public confidence in the Department of Education, the agency should issue guidance and create hardship exceptions for individuals who have detrimentally relied on the availability of the program. By doing so, the public will have a better understanding of what exactly, will change going forward and how to ensure that their payments in furtherance of obtaining the ben fit are approved.