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Education Law

Trump order blocks public service loan forgiveness for employees of ‘activist organizations’

By Debra Cassens Weiss

March 10, 2025, 11:18 am CDT

Employees of “activist organizations” that support activities with a “substantial illegal purpose” should no longer be eligible for a student loan forgiveness program for borrowers in public service jobs, according to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Friday.

The order and a White House fact sheet say illegal purposes include:

  • Aiding and abetting violations of immigration laws

  • Supporting gender-affirming care for minors (deemed to be “child abuse” in the order) or the transporting of minors “to so-called transgender sanctuary states”

  • Engaging in a pattern of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination

  • Supporting terrorism, including engaging in violence to influence the federal government

  • Engaging in a pattern of “public disruptions” that violate state tort laws, such as trespassing

According to the fact sheet, the executive order refocuses the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program “on its original intent of encouraging Americans to enter essential public service roles, such as nursing, rather than activist groups.”

The order directs the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education to carry out the directive, report the New York Times, NPR, USA Today, the Hill and the Washington Post.

The New York Times pointed out that the Trump administration has previously described diversity and inclusion initiatives as illegal discrimination and has described anti-Israel protests as terrorism.

“The Trump administration has taken a broad view of what it considers to be support of illegal activities,” the newspaper reports.

The ABA’s full time-employees are currently allowed to participate in the program, which offers loan forgiveness for those who make monthly payments on direct federal student loans for 10 years while working full time in qualified public service jobs.

The ABA was deemed to be a qualified public service organization, which entitled its employees to participate in the program, as a result of a 2020 settlement in a lawsuit by the ABA and four lawyers. The ABA had sued after the Education Department decided in 2016 that its employees were no longer eligible to participate in the program that began in 2007.

Before former President Joe Biden took office, the PSLF program had forgiven debt to just 7,000 borrowers, according to the White House fact sheet. While Biden was in office, the program “ballooned” to wipe out student debt for more than 1 million borrowers, the fact sheet says.

The Washington Post noted that the loan forgiveness order may not take effect immediately.

“Education Secretary Linda McMahon may need to convene a panel of experts for a negotiated rulemaking to change the criteria for qualifying employers and then invite the public to comment on any proposed revision,” the article says.

Or maybe not. Although such changes typically are enacted through a rulemaking process, the New York Times says, “the Trump administration has frequently acted in defiance of apparent legal limits—which is likely to set off waves of anxiety for those relying on the complex program.”

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