Above photo: Donald Trump speaks at the joint address to Congress on March 4. Donald Trump / X.
Who Are At Odds With His Political Agenda.
Trump’s latest executive order directs the Education Department to exclude student loan forgiveness for workers at certain organizations.
Trump signed an executive order on Friday, March 7, which directs the Education Department to exclude student loan forgiveness for workers at certain organizations which “engage in activities that have a substantial illegal purpose,” appearing to target some nonprofit groups at odds with his political agenda.
Under the new order, workers would be disqualified from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program if the Trump administration deems that their employers violated federal immigration laws, supported “terrorism”, or engaged in so-called “child abuse,” which includes “the chemical and surgical castration or mutilation of children or the trafficking of children to so-called transgender sanctuary States for purposes of emancipation from their lawful parents” – a clear attack on organizations that may support transgender rights.
The text of the order also directs the Education Department to exclude organizations from the definition of “public service” if they engage “in a pattern of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination” or “in a pattern of violating State tort laws, including laws against trespassing, disorderly conduct, public nuisance, vandalism, and obstruction of highways.”
“This is about more than PSLF or ED policy,” wrote Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC), an organization that is focused on eliminating the burden of student debt. “Donald Trump is weaponizing debt to police speech that does not toe the MAGA party line.”
The PSLF Program was created under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 and was intended to provide loan forgiveness to professionals who work in public service full-time. A worker qualifies for this program based on whether their employer qualifies.
As of 2024, USD 1.85 billion in student loan debt has been forgiven through the PSLF since its inception. However, the distribution of funds through this program has been slow and riddled with problems since its beginnings, with the outstanding student debt balance of those eligible for the program standing at USD 182.0 billion. Of the first 28,000 public servants who applied for the program in 2017, only 96 were accepted—a 99% denial rate.
The Worsening Student Debt Crisis
Trump’s newest attack only promises to worsen the existing student debt crisis. Over 43 million people owe federal student loan debt in the United States, with people in the US owing a total of USD 1.75 trillion in both federal and private student loans (federal student loan debt alone constitutes USD 1.62 trillion of this amount).
The crisis has ballooned due to the high price of higher education, even public universities, within the United States. On average, the cost of a year of college in the US, including books, supplies, and living expenses is USD 38,270. Those who use federal loans to attend public institutions owe an average of USD 28,631 in student debt.
Biden’s administration launched a failed attempt to forgive student loan debt for 20 million people, which was ultimately blocked by right-wing justices in the US Supreme Court in June of 2023. On October 4 of 2023, three days after federal student loan payments resumed for 44 million people in the US, President Joe Biden canceled USD 9 million, just 0.5% of the total federal student loan debt owed.
Organizations such as the Debt Collective, an organization that is seeking to organize student loan borrowers into a “Debtors Union,” argued that this action by Biden was inadequate. “The Department of Education has the power to cancel all of our federal student loans immediately through the Higher Education Act of 1965,” the group argued.