Overview

• Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to create a new incremental loan forgiveness schedule for public service workers
• Applies only to Federal Direct Loans taken out after the bill becomes law
• Keeps the existing 10-year (120-payment) full forgiveness program while adding earlier partial forgiveness milestones
• Status: Introduced in House on November 21, 2025, referred to Committee on Education and Workforce

Who does this affect?

• Main groups: College students and graduates with Federal Direct Loans who work in public service jobs (teachers, nurses, government employees, nonprofit workers)
• Who benefits: Public service workers get debt relief faster instead of waiting 10 years. Interest cancellation reduces total amount paid.
• Who loses: Only applies to new loans after enactment, so current borrowers with existing loans don't get the accelerated schedule
• Teen impact score: 9/10 (direct impact on college-bound teens and recent graduates with student loans)
• Teen-specific impact: High school seniors planning college careers in teaching, nursing, or public service would qualify for this faster forgiveness schedule on loans they take out for college.

What This Bill Does

• 15% loan cancellation after 24 monthly payments (2 years) of public service work
• Additional 15% canceled after 48 payments (4 years total)
• Additional 15% canceled after 72 payments (6 years total)
• Additional 15% canceled after 96 payments (8 years total)
• Remaining balance fully canceled after 120 payments (10 years total)
• All percentages calculated based on original loan amount when borrower entered repayment
• Secretary of Education can auto-certify employment without requiring paperwork if employment data is already available
• If paperwork needed, borrower submits employment certification form with self-certification and employer verification sections
• All interest accrued during any year when partial forgiveness occurs gets canceled for that year
• Interest that accrues while application is being processed also gets canceled
• Loans automatically placed in deferment while Secretary processes the cancellation application

Legislative Status

• Introduced November 21, 2025 by Rep. Swalwell and 6 cosponsors
• Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce
• No further action yet

In short

• Public service workers get student loan forgiveness in chunks every 2 years instead of waiting 10 years for full forgiveness.
• Only applies to Federal Direct Loans taken out after this bill becomes law.
• After 2 years of public service work and payments, 15% of the original loan amount gets canceled.
• This repeats every 2 years until the full balance is wiped after 10 years.
• Interest gets canceled too during years when partial forgiveness happens.

Why should I care?

Student debt affects millions of young people choosing careers. This bill makes public service jobs more attractive by offering debt relief sooner. If you're considering teaching, nursing, or government work, this changes the math on how much debt you'd carry. Instead of owing the full amount for a decade, you'd see your balance drop every 2 years. That could mean buying a car or renting an apartment becomes easier earlier in your career. The catch: it only helps future borrowers, not people already paying off loans.