The student loan crisis is real. College gets more expensive every year, and it forces students to go into debt at a young age that forecloses so many options throughout their lives. More than 100,000 older Americans already have their Social Security benefits garnished to repay student loan debts.

Congress recognized that student debt was a crisis in 2007, when it enacted the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. But this band aid was designed like so many well-intentioned government programs. Instead of getting to the root of the student debt crisis, the PSLF attempts to weed out those who are truly deserving to have their debt erased.

These bureaucratic hurdles meant that, even among the group of people who believed they would be eligible, after 10 years spent working in public service and making payments on time, 98% of applicants to PSLF were rejected.

This isn’t how you design a successful program. The Department of Education should look to our Social Security system and its simple, universal benefits without all of the red tape that creates uncertainty.

Right now, the Department of Education is hearing public comments ahead of reforming the PSLF. This is our chance to send a message directly to our government about the way that student loan debt harms us all. And we’ve made it easy!

Use our simple online comment form to submit a comment to the Department of Education about the scourge of student loan debt!

Social Security shows us the absolute power of simple, universal programs. We should demand no different from education. No matter where you come from, who you are, or how much money you have in your pocket, you should have a future with affordable education, and be able to build a life without crushing debt.

Thanks,

Alex Lawson
Social Security Works