Trump administration abandons appeals in fight over student loan forgiveness program
The administration's decision to drop the appeal leaves the program essentially where it was, which is a win for borrowers who'd been sweating whether their payments would count. PSLF has always been a strange beast. It was sold as a straightforward deal, work ten years in public service, make your payments, get forgiveness. In practice it's been a nightmare of paperwork and denials, with a huge share of applicants getting rejected for technical reasons. The fight here was about whether the Education Department could tighten the rules further, and the administration's retreat suggests it didn't like its chances in court.
I think the bigger story is how much whiplash borrowers have been through with this program. What I'd want to know next is whether the Education Department will try a different route, rulemaking instead of litigation, or whether this is a genuine surrender. Either way, the people who took lower-paying public sector jobs on the promise of forgiveness can breathe a little easier, at least for now.