Text Comes Before Negotiating Rulemaking Committee Will Meet to Discuss Next Week
June 24, 2025 | WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Education (ED) released proposed regulatory language to implement President Trump’s Executive Order (EO), issued on March 7, 2025, to exclude certain employers from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The proposal is part of the Negotiated Rulemaking process to enact the EO and overhaul the policies that protect people from unaffordable student debt.
The proposed language would render an employer ineligible—thereby disqualifying its employees—if it engages in activities that have a “substantial illegal purpose.” ED allows the Secretary of Education to declare that any organization is engaged in activities that have a “substantial illegal purpose”—allowing the Secretary of Education to police the ways in which state, county, municipal, and tribal governments and non-profit organizations serve their communities’ needs.
In response, Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) Executive Director Mike Pierce released the following statement:
“The law does not empower the Secretary of Education to opine on the supposed illegality of a public service employer’s mission—an unprecedented exercise of executive power that extends far beyond the Higher Education Act. This proposal empowers Secretary McMahon to block all government workers with student debt, including first responders, social workers, and teachers, from receiving Public Service Loan Forgiveness in retaliation if she decides that a local or state government policy conflicts with her extreme, right-wing views on immigration, civil rights, or free speech.
“If the administration has real concerns that an organization is engaged in unlawful activities, it should rely on the U.S. Department of Justice and the courts, instead of punishing the organization’s employees. Rather than serving as the nation’s top education official, Secretary McMahon’s proposal puts on full display her ambition to be a general in Trump’s culture war. Students, borrowers, and our communities all deserve better than more thinly-veiled fascism.”
Further Reading
Group letter to ED urging representation on negotiated rulemaking panel: Groups Urge U.S. Department of Education to Ensure Robust Representation on Student Debt Rulemaking Panel
186 organization letter to ED in response to ED’s notice about Negotiated Rulemaking to Implement a Trump Executive Order: Hundreds of Democracy, Labor, and Civil Rights Organizations Warn Trump Education Officials: Do Not “Weaponize PSLF”
SBPC advisory on Negotiated Rulemaking hearings: Borrowers and Advocates to Demand Protections for Millions at Neg Reg as ED Moves to Gut Affordable Student Loan Payments
AFT and SBPC statement on PSLF Executive Order: Advocates Blast Trump Plans to Sign Executive Order to Weaponize Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Stifle Free Speech Across America
Collection of borrower stories: Voices Behind the Student Debt Crisis
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About Student Borrower Protection Center
Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) is a nonprofit organization focused on eliminating the burden of student debt for millions of Americans. We engage in advocacy, policymaking, and litigation strategy to rein in industry abuses, protect borrowers’ rights, and advance racial and economic justice.
Learn more at protectborrowers.org or follow SBPC on Twitter @theSBPC.