Overview

• The proposal allows the secretary to exclude entire government agencies and nonprofits from PSLF if found to engage in specified illegal activities such as trafficking, illegal immigration, support for terrorist organizations or gender-affirming care for minors
• Exclusions would be determined using a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard and last 10 years or until an approved corrective action plan is completed
• The department projects fewer than 10 organizations would be barred annually but warns schools, universities, health care providers, social service and legal aid groups face uneven risk
• Employees of excluded employers would lose credit toward loan forgiveness unless they switch to a qualifying organization or their current employer fulfills a corrective plan
• Critics decry the measure as a politicization of student-debt relief and legal challenges are expected over the department’s authority and broad definitions of “illegal activity”