Is PSLF going away? Is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program being cancelled or eliminated?
These are some of the most common questions borrowers are asking right now.
The short answer: No — PSLF is not going away for current borrowers. The program still exists, it is still processing forgiveness, and it has not been cancelled.
However, the rules are changing, employer eligibility is tightening, and if you work for certain types of nonprofits, you need to pay close attention to what’s coming on July 1, 2026.
Has PSLF Been Cancelled or Eliminated?
No. PSLF has not been cancelled, eliminated, or ended.
Despite rising concerns and headlines suggesting otherwise, borrowers are still receiving loan forgiveness through the program today. PSLF remains active and available to those who meet the requirements.
While there have been meaningful PSLF program changes, the program itself continues to operate.
What Trump Has — and Hasn’t — Done to PSLF
The March 2025 Executive Order
On March 7, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14235, titled “Restoring Public Service Loan Forgiveness.”
Many borrowers refer to this as the “Trump PSLF executive order,” and searches for “PSLF Trump” or “will Trump get rid of PSLF” have surged as a result.
Despite the alarming headlines this generated, the EO did not eliminate PSLF or reduce the amount of forgiveness available to current borrowers.
What it did was direct the Department of Education to redefine which employers qualify for PSLF — specifically to exclude organizations the administration deems to have a “substantial illegal purpose.”
This is an important distinction: Trump used an executive order to change employer eligibility rules, not to cancel the program itself. That’s because he couldn’t do the latter even if he wanted to.
Will Trump Get Rid of PSLF?
No — a president cannot unilaterally eliminate PSLF.
PSLF was created by an act of Congress — the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, signed by President George W. Bush with bipartisan support. Eliminating it entirely requires another act of Congress. No president can unilaterally cancel a congressional program by executive order.
This is the legal foundation that protects all current PSLF borrowers: the program exists in statute, and that statute would have to be repealed or amended by both the House and Senate before PSLF itself disappears.
That said, Congress can do what a president cannot. The One Big Beautiful Bill — passed July 4, 2025 — didn’t eliminate PSLF outright, but it did close the program to new borrowers taking out loans after July 1, 2026 who don’t enroll in RAP. Future legislation could go further, which is why borrowers are paying close attention to the future of PSLF.
The distinction matters: Trump can’t cancel PSLF by executive order, but his allies in Congress have the authority to phase it out legislatively — and have already begun narrowing it.
The New Employer Eligibility Rule (Effective July 1, 2026)
Following a negotiated rulemaking process and a public comment period that drew nearly 14,000 responses, the Department of Education published a final rule on October 31, 2025 that takes effect July 1, 2026.
Under the new rule, the Secretary of Education has authority to disqualify an otherwise eligible employer — including government agencies and 501(c)(3) nonprofits — from PSLF if the Department determines that employer has a “substantial illegal purpose.”
The rule defines “substantial illegal purpose” to include employers that engage in:
- Aiding or abetting violations of federal immigration laws
- Supporting terrorism or engaging in violence to obstruct federal government policy
- Providing gender-affirming care for minors in violation of federal or state law
- Trafficking children across state lines to emancipate them from parents in violation of law
- A pattern of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination
- A pattern of violating state laws
The Department has stated it expects to disqualify fewer than 10 employers per year under the rule. Use the PSLF employer lookup tool to verify your employer’s current status.
What This Means for Your PSLF Payments
If your employer is disqualified after July 1, 2026:
- Payments made before that date are fully protected — they still count toward your 120.
- Only conduct occurring after July 1, 2026 is considered in eligibility determinations.
- The Department is required to notify borrowers if their employer is at risk of or has been disqualified — but only if you have a certified employment form on file for that employer. Borrowers working for an at-risk organization who haven’t yet submitted a PSLF certification form may not receive direct notice. This is another reason to certify your employment early and regularly.
- Disqualified employers can regain eligibility through a corrective action plan or after 10 years but only if they can prove the ‘substantial illegal purpose’ has ceased.
The rule is explicitly prospective, not retroactive. Past credit cannot be taken away.
Legal Challenges
The final rule triggered immediate lawsuits from three separate coalitions:
- A group of 21 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia, led by New York AG Letitia James
- A coalition of unions, cities, and nonprofits led by the National Council of Nonprofits
- A coalition of four nonprofits — Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the American Immigration Council, The Door (A Center of Alternatives), and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) — represented by Student Defense and Public Citizen Litigation Group
Critics — including the American Bar Association and the American Council on Education — argue the Department lacks statutory authority to narrow employer eligibility, since Congress wrote the PSLF statute to include all 501(c)(3) organizations without condition.
As of March 2026, all three cases are in the injunction phase. Most legal experts expect a ruling on a nationwide preliminary injunction before the July 1, 2026 effective date. If granted, the injunction would freeze the rule entirely — preventing any employers from being disqualified until the lawsuits are fully resolved. Given the pace of briefing, a ruling before July 2026 is widely anticipated.
Recent PSLF Changes and New Rules
On July 4, 2025, Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) into law. This sweeping legislation overhauled the federal student loan system — but it preserved PSLF.
An earlier House version had included a provision that would have blocked new doctors and dentists in residency from earning PSLF credit. That provision was removed in the Senate before final passage.
Key OBBB changes that indirectly affect PSLF borrowers — see our full repayment plan guide for the complete breakdown:
RAP now qualifies for PSLF. The law created a new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) and confirmed that RAP payments count toward PSLF. RAP will be available no later than July 1, 2026.
SAVE, PAYE, and ICR are being eliminated. Borrowers on these plans must transition before July 1, 2028. If you don’t proactively choose an eligible IDR plan, your servicer may automatically default you onto a non-qualifying Standard Plan with higher payments, freezing your PSLF progress. See the transition guidance below for plan-specific advice — the right move is different depending on which plan you’re on.
IBR access expanded. The OBBB eliminated the partial-financial-hardship requirement for IBR enrollment, immediately effective as of July 4, 2025. More borrowers can now qualify.New borrowers face tighter constraints. Any borrower taking out new loans on or after July 1, 2026 will be restricted to the Tiered Standard Repayment Plan or RAP — and the Tiered Standard does not qualify for PSLF under any tier. New borrowers must proactively enroll in RAP to pursue PSLF. With one major exception: Parent PLUS loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2026 are entirely banned from RAP and restricted exclusively to the Tiered Standard Plan — effectively ending PSLF for new Parent PLUS borrowers. If you have existing loans on IBR and are considering borrowing again after July 2026, read this first — new post-2026 borrowing can quietly force your entire loan portfolio off IBR and onto RAP, a change that could significantly affect your long-term repayment cost.
What Project 2025 Proposed — and What Actually Happened
Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s policy blueprint for the Trump administration, called for eliminating PSLF entirely — along with all income-driven repayment forgiveness. If implemented as written, analysis estimated 3.6 million borrowers currently working toward PSLF would have been denied relief, adding roughly $250 billion in student debt burden nationwide.
That did not happen.
Trump’s actual actions on PSLF have been narrower than what Project 2025 proposed: rather than eliminating the program, his administration has focused on on restricting employer eligibility via executive order. While the One Big Beautiful Bill did overhaul student loans, it explicitly preserved PSLF in the law.
This is meaningful for borrowers: the most aggressive version of what critics feared has not materialized. The program exists, continues to forgive loans, and remains available to borrowers who meet the core requirements.
Will PSLF Be Grandfathered?
For most borrowers, yes — your existing progress is protected.
Several layers of protection apply:
Your Master Promissory Note (MPN). When you took out federal student loans, you signed a binding legal agreement with the government that does not include any caps on the amount forgiven under PSLF. However, the MPN’s protection is not absolute — the document itself contains a clause stating it is subject to the Higher Education Act and any future amendments to it. In plain terms: the MPN gives notice that Congress can change the governing law. What it does not permit is the executive branch making retroactive changes through regulation or executive order. Courts have consistently pushed back on attempts to alter loan terms that borrowers demonstrably relied on when making career and financial decisions — but a future act of Congress amending the HEA would carry different legal weight.
Prospective-only rule changes. The new employer eligibility rule explicitly states that only conduct occurring on or after July 1, 2026 will be evaluated. Past qualifying payments are not at risk. Check your current PSLF payment count to confirm your progress is properly recorded before the rule takes effect.
Statutory protections. Legal scholars and advocacy organizations have broadly argued — and multiple courts are currently evaluating — whether the administration’s employer eligibility changes even have a legal basis under the statute Congress passed in 2007. The Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo is central to this argument: by overturning Chevron deference, the Court ruled that agencies can no longer rely on broad interpretations of ambiguous statutory language — courts must now read the law as written. Since Congress defined “public service” in the 2007 statute to include all 501(c)(3) organizations without qualification, the Department of Education’s attempt to carve out a “substantial illegal purpose” exception faces a significantly higher legal bar under Loper Bright than it would have just two years ago. This is the core reason legal scholars believe the employer-disqualification rule is vulnerable.
As of mid-March 2026, the lawsuits are moving quickly. In the New York AG case, plaintiffs have filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, arguing the “substantial illegal purpose” rule is “arbitrary and capricious” under the Administrative Procedure Act — a standard that, post-Loper Bright, courts are now applying more strictly to agency rulemaking.Political durability. PSLF primarily benefits teachers, nurses, social workers, first responders, and government employees — constituencies with broad bipartisan support. Legislation to eliminate PSLF outright would face significant political obstacles in Congress.
What Borrowers Should Do Right Now
If your employer is a standard government agency or university: No immediate action needed. These employers are at low risk under the new rule.
If your employer is a nonprofit that does immigration work, gender-affirming healthcare, or DEI-related advocacy: Pay close attention to the July 1, 2026 effective date. Consider certifying your employment now to lock in qualifying payment credit before the rule takes effect. Watch for student loan updates on the ongoing litigation, which could delay or block the rule.
If you’re on SAVE or PAYE: Start planning your transition to IBR or RAP before the July 2028 deadline. Don’t wait and risk being defaulted onto a non-qualifying Standard Plan.
If you’re on ICR (Parent PLUS borrowers): You are legally banned from RAP. You must specifically execute the mandatory four-step transition to IBR before the July 2028 sunset to preserve your IDR access — consolidate before July 1, 2026, enroll in ICR, make at least one qualifying ICR payment, then switch to IBR. See our full repayment plan guide for the complete step-by-step breakdown.
If you’re behind on certifications: Submit your Employment Certification Form now. Getting certified regularly is the single most important step you can take to protect your PSLF progress. Here’s how to find and certify qualifying employers.
If you currently work for a qualifying employer and are thinking of leaving: Read this before you go — timing your departure incorrectly can cost you credit you’ve already earned.
If you’re early in your career and planning to pursue PSLF: The program still exists, RAP will be available as a qualifying plan starting in 2026, and the core rules are unchanged. The 10-year public service + 120 qualifying payments structure remains intact. Here’s how to start the clock correctly.
The Bottom Line: Is PSLF Going Away?
PSLF is not going away for current borrowers. The Trump administration has used an executive order and regulatory action to narrow which employers qualify — changes that take effect July 1, 2026 and are being challenged in federal court. Congress, through the One Big Beautiful Bill, preserved the program while overhauling the repayment plan landscape around it.
The risks for most borrowers are real but manageable: know whether your employer could be affected by the new eligibility rules, make sure your certifications are current, and plan your repayment plan transition before 2028.
The borrowers with the most to lose are those at nonprofits doing work the current administration has explicitly targeted, and Parent PLUS borrowers who must navigate strict transition deadlines to preserve their IDR access. For everyone else, the path to forgiveness remains open.
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About the Author
Pedro Gomez is the new Student Loan Sherpa and a Certified Financial Planner™ with over a decade of experience helping clients navigate complex financial decisions. He is the founder of Global Financial Plan, where he writes about international living, geoarbitrage, and strategies for retiring young, and also leads Brickell Financial Group, a registered investment advisory firm focused on accelerating financial freedom.
Pedro is the architect behind the “12 Levels of Financial Freedom” framework and blends student loan strategy with long-term planning, tax efficiency, and investing. His work is especially geared toward upwardly mobile professionals, entrepreneurs, and those looking to design a life beyond the default path.
Pedro is available for strategy sessions and press inquiries.
