Student loan relief through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was supposed to be simple. 

If college graduates were willing to forgo the private sector’s comparably high pay and instead work as a teacher, police officer or government worker, any federal student debt they had after 10 years of payments would be forgiven. 

More than a decade after its inception in 2007, thousands upon thousands of borrowers have applied for forgiveness. The federal government has rejected the vast majority.

Now, that’s changing.

The Education Department announced earlier this month a vast overhaul to the loan forgiveness program that will erase the debt of 22,000 borrowers, totaling $1.7 billion. The government estimated another 27,000 borrowers could see about $2.8 billion in debts forgiven if they prove they were employed in an eligible job. 

Shannon Green sits down with USA TODAY education reporter Chris Quintana to discuss who’s affected by these new developments and how they can be connected to loan forgiveness resources.

Episode transcript linked here.

Also available at art19.com/shows/5-Things.

Additional reading:

Student loan forgiveness: Half a million people to benefit from overhaul, some immediately

Student loan forgiveness: Who is eligible and how to apply under Biden’s overhauled relief program

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