The Department of Education (ED) on Thursday updated a rule on public service employee eligibility for student loan forgiveness, disqualifying any who work at organizations that advocate for sex change operations for minors, or which aid illegal aliens.
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program generally applies to government workers and some nonprofits that are deemed to be serving the public, but the new rule disqualifies employers who “have a substantial illegal purpose.” The disqualifications include “aiding and abetting violations of Federal immigration laws,” “supporting terrorism or engaging in violence,” “engaging in the chemical and surgical castration or mutilation of children,” “engaging in the trafficking of children to States for purposes of emancipation from their lawful parents,” “engaging in a pattern of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination, and engaging in a pattern of violating State laws.”
“Taxpayer funds should never directly or indirectly subsidize illegal activity,” Nicholas Kent, Under Secretary of Education, said in a statement. “The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was meant to support Americans who dedicate their careers to public service — not to subsidize organizations that violate the law, whether by harboring illegal immigrants or performing prohibited medical procedures that attempt to transition children away from their biological sex.”
“With this new rule, the Trump Administration is refocusing the PSLF program to ensure federal benefits go to our Nation’s teachers, first responders, and civil servants who tirelessly serve their communities,” Kent continued.
President Donald Trump in March signed an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to reform the loan forgiveness program the president said “has misdirected tax dollars into activist organizations that not only fail to serve the public interest, but actually harm our national security and American values, sometimes through criminal means.” The new rule is a result of a several-months-long formal rulemaking process from the department.
ED recently agreed to continue processing PSLF applications after pausing the program at the beginning of 2025, arguing it may be unlawful. The Biden administration used programs such as PSLF to forgive billions in student loans for government workers alone. Nearly $200 billion for over five million borrowers was forgiven during the four-year term, and the administration had plans to target millions more.
“As the name suggests, Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) was intended to help meet workforce needs for employers who serve the public good. Unfortunately, the open-ended nature of PSLF has forced taxpayers—many of whom never went to college, to foot the bill for employees at radical organizations that violate state and federal laws,” Tim Walberg, chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said in a statement. “Aiding illegal immigration, supporting terrorism, or promoting child abuse through gender transitions is not ‘public service.’ This new rule codifies the Trump administration’s executive order on PSLF preventing taxpayer dollars from paying the student loans of those undermining the rule of law.”
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