Calling all PSLF advocates! Make your voice heard....

[Joy Sorensen Navarre Navigate]

Dear colleagues,

You may have heard that the HEA Reauthorization Bill proposes to ELIMINATE Public Service Loan Forgiveness. The PSLF Coalition sent a letter to Congress. See attached.

You can take action by calling your elected officials. Use this link provided by Equal Justice Works, the PSLF Coalition lead. It provides all the information you will need. It's easy and takes only 10 minutes.

I called all three of my elected officials. None of them had yet taken a position on the legislation. All three promised to look into it and post the positions on their websites.

Will you please share on the thread what you learn during your calls?

All the best,

--Joy

 

[The White Coat Investor]

This is much more concerning than the 2013 Obama Administration Budget proposal to limit forgiveness to just $57K. This is actually happening in Congress. I have no idea what its chances of passage are, nor what it will do with people currently in the program. But if this is your plan for paying for medical school, you'd better get on the horn.

It's also kind of depressing to realize this is coming at you from both the Dems and Repubs.

[bonehead]

I didn't see where in the language of the proposed bill that it would be eliminated for current borrowers.  Can you post a link or paste it?

[jsr52]

How do you explain to a public defender or a teacher, that the neurosurgeon who spent 7 years in training and goes into academics, yet starting salary is >500,000 should have over 200,000 of loans forgiven? Our country simply does not have the money to forgive the loans of rich physicians. I'm all for PSLF, but it was not designed for physicians. We simply took advantage of it.

[jsr52]

Financially its depressing, but if its coming from D's and R's, isn't is really just washington realizing we don't have the money for this social program anymore?

[The White Coat Investor]

Sounds like jsr52 is NOT a PSLF advocate eh? I'm guessing you're not going to write your Congressperson.

[jsr52]

Don't get me wrong, I'm an advocate for those who use the program and have a low salary with high loan burden, ie all teachers, public defenders, very few physicians fit into that category. Its obvious the program is not sustainable, and I do hope whatever decision is made does not affect anyone who already has loans like MS1s, but would really only start to impact college students who are about to apply for med-school. Perhaps this would push them to apply more to state schools, less to private schools, and private schools would have no choice but to bring their costs down. We'll see.

[Mantis Toboggan]

I agree. The definition of “public service” is too broad. Technically not for profit academic hospitals decked out in marble that have department chairs making 7 figures should not qualify. You want to work for Indian Health Service or for a county health department/state prison, I’m fine with the government forgiving your loans.

[ENT Doc]

I don't think it makes sense for any combination of salary and loan amount. What is the prescribed ratio whereby it becomes reasonable? PSLF is a way of making loans look less expensive, which provides incentive to attend higher priced schools. These are not the incentives we should be creating. Further, there are IBR options for those who made the decision to go to a high priced school and the made the decision to go into a low paying field.

[hightower]

I think this program should go away for high paid professionals.  The govt should not be subsidizing student debt for people capable of earning 250K+/yr.  I'd rather see money going towards improving/creating public education for the general population.  I agree with ENT Doc, but I feel bad for people like my little sister who are using it to pay off her very modest college/grad school debt and working 2 jobs as a teacher in Chicago because it's the only place she could find work.  People like her could use some help.

[MidWestInternist]

Wouldn't it be cheaper to augment those life paying jobs salary rather than forgiving the loans... Forgiving loans just makes people borrow more without consequences...

[Hank]

I’m concerned that PSLF has an inflationary effect on the cost of higher education. If we want public defenders to have a better debt to income ratio, then we can pay them more.

[FutureDoc]

If PSLF goes away and there aren't more programs designed to help primary care physicians there is going to be fewer grads in academics and primary care is going to get even less attractive

[MPMD]

ENT Doc wrote:

I don’t think it makes sense for any combination of salary and loan amount. What is the prescribed ratio whereby it becomes reasonable? PSLF is a way of making loans look less expensive, which provides incentive to attend higher priced schools. These are not the incentives we should be creating. Further, there are IBR options for those who made the decision to go to a high priced school and the made the decision to go into a low paying field.

Click to expand...

That is well phrased my friend.

I have met a small but disturbing number of students/residents who just have this vague sense that there's a program out there that is going to take care of their massive loan balances. Not a common thing but certainly something I encounter.

As WCI and others note, PSLF for physicians has antagonists on both sides of the aisle and few defenders. That in and of itself should make anyone who is counting on it nervous.

[Zaphod]

FutureDoc wrote:

If PSLF goes away and there aren’t more programs designed to help primary care physicians there is going to be fewer grads in academics and primary care is going to get even less attractive

Click to expand...

In the end though it may seem painful, both are probably a good thing.

PSLF makes loans look less expensive and thats not good, better to decrease overall funding and somehow magically school tuition will decrease its rapid rise. I dont think there is any big deal in and of itself to the government subsidizing education for the public. Its an immense return to them long term. The issue is how its implemented, which just means what unintended secondary consequences arise out of what becomes perverse incentives. With the current system we have gotten increased tuition and a very strange system to repay. Easier if all payments, 100% were tax deductible. That doesnt address tuition cost though and that is also a problem that needs to be addressed.