A popular student loan forgiveness program may be at risk with the reelection of former President Donald Trump.
During Trump’s first term, he called for the elimination of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness initiative. Since then, Project 2025, a set of proposals developed by The Heritage Foundation and more than 100 conservative organizations, has also called for the end of PSLF.
Signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2007, that program allows certain not-for-profit and government employees to have their federal student loans canceled after a decade of payments.
Although the program used to be plagued by problems — making it a rarity for people to actually receive the debt forgiveness — the Biden administration relaxed its requirements and overhauled how it’s managed.
Since President Joe Biden took office, more than 1 million people have had their student debt erased through PSLF. Before that, only around 7,000 people had.
So what could happen to the program now that Trump will be back in the White House?
Current borrowers should remain entitled to relief
While the program remains in effect, borrowers are entitled to the relief, said Betsy Mayotte, president of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, a nonprofit.
“Don’t panic,” Mayotte said. “PSLF is written into federal law, by a Republican president, and it would take an act of Congress to eliminate it.”
As of now, Republicans have a majority in the Senate. The House is still up for grabs, with several races too close to call.
Yet even if both chambers are under GOP control, it’s not clear “all the Republicans want it gone,” Mayotte said.
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But what if they do vote to do away with the program?
“It wouldn’t be retroactive,” Mayotte said.
That means current borrowers would still be able to work toward loan forgiveness under the program.
“So, worst-case scenario, it would be for loans made on or after the date of such a law enactment,” Mayotte said.
Higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz agreed that’s how such a change would probably play out.
“Most likely the change would apply only to new borrowers,” Kantrowitz said. “Existing borrowers would be grandfathered in.”
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.
What borrowers can do
With the PSLF help tool, borrowers can search for a list of qualifying employers and make sure they’re on track for the relief. They should also access the employer certification form at StudentAid.gov.
That form will confirm that you’re working in an eligible job and generate an updated tally of how many qualifying payments you’ve made, Kantrowitz said.
Try to fill out this form at least once a year, he added. And keep records of your confirmed qualifying payments. To get your remaining debt excused, you need 120 qualifying payments.