{"id":67021,"date":"2018-03-14T15:14:24","date_gmt":"2018-03-14T15:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/14\/student-loan-forgiveness-benefit-on-the-chopping-block\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T14:00:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T14:00:32","slug":"student-loan-forgiveness-benefit-on-the-chopping-block","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/03\/14\/student-loan-forgiveness-benefit-on-the-chopping-block\/","title":{"rendered":"Student loan forgiveness benefit on the chopping block"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editor\u2019s note:<\/b> This story has been updated to correct the percentage of funds for-profit schools must get from sources other than federal financial aid.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A benefit that lets service members and other government workers write off student loan debt would vanish under a new proposal in Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republican-backed legislation would eliminate a program that allows borrowers in full-time public service jobs to have their student loans forgiven after making payments for 10 years \u2014 a move that military and veterans groups say would hurt their members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur concern with public service loan forgiveness being eliminated is that it is a recruiting and retention tool for the services themselves,\u201d said Aniela Szymanski, government relations director for Military Officers Association of America. \u201cThat gives us concern about who are we going to get to join the military, how are they going to be able to maintain a career in the military and possibly public service thereafter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But supporters say the measure is necessary to keep rising college costs in check.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnlimited borrowing combined with unlimited forgiveness enables institutions to increase college costs, pocket the extra money, and ignore the needs and reality of students and families who struggle with increasing loan balances,\u201d said Michael Woeste, a spokesman for the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, chaired by Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want our veterans to struggle with growing debt burdens, and these reforms will enable students to pursue their chosen career path without worrying about ever-rising loan balances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plans to scrap public service loan forgiveness for future borrowers are part of a package of changes to higher education rules proposed in the PROSPER Act, introduced in the House of Representatives in December. Foxx\u2019s committee last made changes to the bill in February, and staff members are working to get the legislation to the House floor as soon as possible, Woeste said in an email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, employees of local, state and federal government agencies, as well as nonprofits, can qualify for loan forgiveness after making qualifying payments for 120 months. These payments, though not required to be consecutive, must have been made after Oct. 1, 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Service members and other borrowers currently using federal direct student loans would be grandfathered into the legislation and would not be affected if the program is cut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to overhauling student loan forgiveness, the PROSPER Act would roll back rules cracking down on for-profit colleges, including a requirement applied primarily to for-profit schools requiring them to demonstrate that their graduates get jobs. It would also eliminate a requirement that for-profit colleges get at least 10 percent of their funds from sources other than federal financial aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veterans groups not only support keeping that so-called 90-10 rule in place, they also have long pushed for stricter versions of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a meeting with reporters earlier this month, John Kamin, American Legion assistant director of veterans employment and education, said the potential 90-10 elimination demands \u201cvigorous opposition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t