By librarian Katy Punch’s reckoning, she became eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness in November 2024. At that point, she submitted an application to the U.S. Department of Education for a program that would allow her to make her last qualifying payments and wipe out her roughly $30,000 balance.
More than 14 months later, she is still waiting for an answer.
“I am trying to save more just in case I don’t receive the forgiveness I have earned and should have received in November 2024,” Punch, 38, said.
Under the Trump administration, more than 83,000 federal student loan borrowers — including Punch — are waiting in a backlog of PSLF Buyback applications, court records show.
PSLF, signed into law in 2007 by President George W. Bush, offers student loan forgiveness to those who’ve spent a decade working for certain not-for-profits or the government. The buyback option allows borrowers pursuing PSLF to retroactively pay for any months they missed because of a forbearance or deferment, accelerating their timeline to debt cancellation.
