Dingell Presses Administration on Public Service Loan Forgiveness Delays

U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell (D-MI-06) urged the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to address delays in processing Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Buyback applications, some of which have sat undecided for over a year. In a letter to the department, Congresswoman Dingell highlighted the program's role in retaining qualified public servants and called for coordinated efforts to ensure the 88,000 pending applicants receive timely decisions.

A copy of the letter can be found HERE and text is below:

Dear Secretary McMahon:

This letter is regarding the delays experienced by applicants to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Buyback. As a strong supporter of PSLF and our public servants, I am

concerned by reports I have heard from my constituents of applications sitting without a decision for over a year.

The PSLF program provides essential support to eligible public servants by forgiving the remaining balance of their Direct Loan program student loans, so long as they meet the program

requirements. PSLF Buyback provides opportunities for borrowers to "buy back" deferred or forborne monthly payments, allowing borrowers to make previously ineligible periods of

deferment or forbearance qualifying monthly payments under PSLF.

This program helps us retain qualified and competent public servants throughout our government and in the nonprofit sector by rewarding workers for their years of service. However, as of April 30, 2026, 88,000 PSLF Buyback applications were pending. In that same month, 4,790 applications were received and 6,870 applications were determined. While it is good that your department is making progress towards the backlog, there is still a long list of public servants waiting for the financial security they were promised.

I was pleased by the recent announcement that the Department of Education's Office of Federal Student Aid is looking to hire 334 full-time employees by next year, a 45% increase from

staffing levels as of April 2026 and increasing total staffing to 1,065 full-time employees.

However, even with successfully completing this hiring goal, the Office of Federal Student Aid would still be well under the staffing levels of the previous administration when staffing was as high as 1,444 full-time employees.I remain concerned by this administration's propensity to push public servants out of federal work, including through the March 2025 Reduction in Force (RIF) only to have to hire workers for those same positions later on who are then faced with significant backlogs. The Office of Federal Student Aid is no exception.

I am hopeful we can work together to ensure that our public servants long-awaited answers to their applications for PSLF. Thank you for your consideration in this matter and I look forward to receiving a response.