For many borrowers expecting student debt relief from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, the latest set of federal data on applications provoked fears that they shouldn't count on loan forgiveness.
Almost 99 percent of applications have been rejected between October of last year, when the first borrowers became eligible, and June 30 of this year. That’s led some frustrated borrowers to speculate that the Trump administration, which has twice proposed eliminating the program, has been stingy with the benefits.
But in reality those numbers reflect both the complexity of loan forgiveness and the lengthy timeline for meeting requirements, rather than policy choices made by officials at the U.S. Department of Education. That means political debates over the cost of the program, which has been the focus of complaints by some conservatives, likely will be reignited when large numbers of borrowers actually start to qualify.
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/09/27/unsettled-debate-over-impact-public-service-loan-forgiveness