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The U.S. Department of Education (Department) is seeking to overhaul how the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program is administered, in response to an Executive Order issued earlier this year that claimed the program aids “activist organizations” that harm “national security and American values.”
According to the National Council of Nonprofits, earlier this month, a Negotiated Rulemaking Committee met as a first step toward attempting to bar certain charitable nonprofit employers from the program if the Department of Education determines that the employer engages in “activities that have a substantial illegal purpose.”
Also sought is the expansion of the definition of “substantial illegal purposes” to include “aiding and abetting violations of federal immigration laws,” “supporting terrorism,” “engaging in the chemical and surgical castration or mutilation of children in violation of federal or state laws,” “engaging in the trafficking of children to states for the purpose of emancipation from their lawful parents in violation of federal or state law,” “engaging in a pattern of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination,” and “engaging in a pattern of violating state laws” regarding trespassing, disorderly conduct, public nuisance, vandalism, or obstruction of highways.
That means the possible exclusion of nonprofits working with undocumented immigrants, supporting transgender children, or advancing racial and social equity.
“The PSLF authorizing statute clearly states that the term ‘public service job’ includes full-time work at 501(c)(3) organizations,” according to Tiffany Gourley Carter, public policy director and counsel of the National Council of Nonprofits, during public comments at the Department of Education Negotiated Rulemaking Committee. The proposal “risks politicizing the nonpartisan work of nonprofits. It would allow each administration, regardless of political party, to decide what counts as an allowable employer under PSLF without an objective set of criteria,” according to Gourley Carter.
Join the National Council of Nonprofits and Public Service Promise for a FREE expert-led webinar on July 22 regarding how to access student loan relief from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program and actions you can take to protect this critical program from unlawful attempts to undermine it.
