Student loan forgiveness for public-sector workers will be temporarily paused. Here’s what you need to know

Student loan forgiveness for public-sector workers like teachers and nurses will be temporarily paused beginning May 1 as the Department of Education moves management of the program in-house.

Student loan forgiveness for public-sector workers such as teachers and nurses will be temporarily paused beginning May 1 as the Department of Education moves management of the program in-house. The transition is expected to last through July and will impact about 2 million borrowers enrolled in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, or PSLF, which cancels student debt remaining after an eligible borrower has made 120 monthly qualifying payments. The federally contracted student loan servicer MOHELA (Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority) is currently tasked with servicing the accounts of these borrowers. But after the transition, borrowers will find their up-to-date payment counts and other information at the Federal Student Aid office’s website. The change will also apply to the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant program, which provides money to students who are planning to teach certain subjects in low-income districts. The grants, which are converted to loans if requirements aren’t met, are also serviced by MOHELA. The transition is part of a larger overhaul of the federal student loan system that will happen in phases over the next few years. It’s meant to streamline processing and improve customer service. The PSLF program had previously been plagued by administrative problems. Many borrowers, for example, were inappropriately steered into forbearance by their student loan servicer when they could have been making qualifying payments that counted toward the 120 required for debt relief. The Biden administration has made it easier to qualify for the program, canceling $62.8 billion for nearly 876,000 borrowers to date through PSLF.