On May 8, 2023, APA Services joined a cross-section of 261 organizations (PDF, 128KB)opens in new window in opposing a bicameral effort to use the Congressional Review Act to overturn both the Biden administration’s plan to provide broad-based student debt relief as well as the most recent extension of the pandemic-related pause on student loan payments and interest accrual.
Rolling back the payment pause would add thousands of dollars of interest to student loan balances and undue loans forgiven under Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) since the last extension was issued in December 2022. This would effectively force borrowers who received PSLF since January 1, 2023, back into repayment. The payment pause has been extended nine times, across multiple administrations since it first went into effect in March 2020. APA Services has supported each extension.
Over the past 18 months there has been a great deal of student debt-related activity coming from the White House and the Department of Education, all of which APA Services advocated for.
- October 2021: The Department of Education issued a temporary waiver that made a series of immediate fixes to PSLF, retroactively counting prior payments for borrowers enrolled in the program by October 31, 2022, irrespective of federal loan type or repayment plan. APA Services advocated for these fixes over the course of many years. As of May 2023, 615,000 borrowers were approved for over $42 billion in student debt cancelationopens in new window, including many psychologists.
- July 2022: APA Services submitted comments to the Department of Education on a proposed rule that would make improvements to PSLF (PDF, 423KB)opens in new window, including proposed changes to the definition of qualifying employer and full-time employment; the application and reconsideration processes; and to the calculation of payments. Many of these changes have long been part of the association’s advocacy efforts. The final rule was issued in Fall 2022 and will go into effect on July 1, 2023. Along with coalition partners, the association will monitor the rollout and implementation of the new regulations..
- August 2022: APA Services continued to support the Biden Administration’s efforts to cancel $10,000 and $20,000 of student loan debt for individual borrowers with an annual income of under $125,000 or under $250,000 for married couples. The association is closely monitoring the Supreme Court decision on whether to allow this plan to proceed and is working with coalition partners on next steps, depending on the outcome. A decision is expected by late June 2023.
- January 2023: APA Services submitted additional comments to the Department of Education on proposed changes to its Income-Driven Repayment system. Although the comments were largely supportive of many of the changes in the proposed rule, which are largely consistent with previous requests made by the association, the association expressed concerns about the continuing disparity in the treatment of undergraduate and graduate loans and urged the department to make several revisions. A final rule is expected in the coming months..
For more information, contact Kenneth Polishchuk.