Key Takeaways
- A proposed rule change would allow early childhood educators who work in the private sector to benefit from a student loan forgiveness program for public servants.
- About 450,000 people in a typically poorly paid field would benefit from the change.
- The rule change would further expand the PSLF, which has forgiven loans for 900,000 people after the Biden administration made it easier to qualify for, versus 7,000 before.
The administration of President Joe Biden is taking steps to forgive student loans of preschool teachers and other early childhood educators who were left out of a program that has canceled debts for teachers and other public servants.
The administration is moving to once again change the rules of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, this time to include early childhood educators who work for private companies or own businesses, the Department of Education said Thursday. Under the program’s current rules, educators and other public servants can have their federal student loans forgiven if they work for a government or nonprofit organization for 10 years while making income-based payments on their loans.
Typically Lowest-Paid Educators
Under the proposed changes, 450,000 people would make progress toward having their loans forgiven, the department estimated. Eliminating student debt could have a significant effect on the household budgets of those workers, who are typically the lowest-paid educators. The median pay for a preschool teacher was $37,130 a year in 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, compared with $63,680 for a kindergarten or elementary school teacher.
“Early childhood educators help young children learn, grow, and thrive. But they are often poorly compensated, and student debt is a problem,” U.S. Undersecretary of Education James Kvaal said in a press release. “If these educators can access Public Service Loan Forgiveness, we can help our youngest children, their families, and their communities.”
Expands Scope of PSLF
The rule change would again expand the scope of what, until 2021, was a program where strict requirements meant very few people actually had their loans forgiven. Rule changes under the Biden administration have made the process much easier, and many more people eligible. In the last three years, 900,000 people have had their loans forgiven under PSLF, compared with about 7,000 until that point since its establishment in 2007, according to Department of Education data.
The administrative move announced Thursday was a “request for information,” soliciting comments from experts on the proposed change, and would be used to inform how the department puts the rule into effect once it’s finalized. The changes to PSLF loan forgiveness were first proposed in 2022.