1). In September 2017, 10 years after the PSLF program was established,  Education began accepting loan forgiveness applications from borrowers. 2). Many Borrowers Are Pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and Recent Legislation Requires Education to Conduct Additional Outreach to Borrowers

		Over 890,000 Borrowers Took an Initial Step Towards Qualifying for PSLF by Having Their Employment and Loans Certified, and 55 Have Received Loan Forgiveness

Over 890,000 borrowers have taken an initial step towards qualifying for  the PSLF program by voluntarily having their employment and loans  certified as eligible for PSLF, according to data from the PSLF servicer as  of April 2018. 3). 4). Over 19,300 borrowers had  submitted loan forgiveness applications as of April 2018 (see fig. Borrower Confusion about PSLF Requirements Persists, and Recent Legislation Requires Education to Conduct Additional Outreach

Although Education has conducted some outreach to communicate PSLF  program requirements to borrowers, the large number of borrowers  whose certification requests and forgiveness applications were denied  suggests that many borrowers do not understand or are not aware of  these requirements. For example, over half of borrowers that requested to  have their employment and loans certified as of April 2018 either did not  meet basic eligibility requirements or had yet to make any qualifying loan  payments. Education Could Provide More Comprehensive Information to Improve Program Administration and Qualifying Employment and Loan Payment Determinations

		Education’s Piecemeal Guidance and Instructions to the PSLF Loan Servicer Create Challenges for Program Administration

Education does not have a comprehensive document or manual to  provide the PSLF servicer guidance and instructions, which PSLF  servicer officials said makes it difficult to effectively administer the  program and provide consistent service to borrowers. Education’s use of email to communicate key guidance and instructions  to the PSLF servicer is particularly problematic because this important  information is not disseminated to relevant individuals at Education and  the PSLF servicer in the same standard fashion as official changes to the  servicing contract. Education has also used email to communicate certain  policy clarifications involving employer eligibility and payment counting  that, according to the PSLF servicer, have affected hundreds of  borrowers and set precedents for future eligibility decisions. The current lack of a definitive and comprehensive  source of guidance and instructions for the PSLF servicer creates the risk  of inconsistent interpretations that could potentially result in borrowers  being improperly denied loan forgiveness since Education does not  currently review loan forgiveness applications that are denied by the  PSLF servicer. Additional Information from Education Could Improve the PSLF Servicer’s and Borrowers’ Ability to Determine Whether Borrowers’ Employment Qualifies for Loan Forgiveness

Education has provided the PSLF servicer and borrowers with limited  information that could help them determine which employers qualify for  PSLF, creating uncertainty for borrowers and increasing the risk that the  PSLF servicer may improperly certify or deny certification to some  borrowers. Education has not provided the PSLF servicer with a definitive  source of information for determining which employers qualify a borrower  for loan forgiveness. Education Could Improve the Information Provided to the PSLF Servicer and Borrowers about Whether Borrowers’ Payments Qualify for Loan Forgiveness

			Collecting Consistent Payment Information

Education does not ensure the PSLF servicer receives consistent  information on borrowers’ prior loan payments from other loan servicers,  which could raise the risk of qualifying payments being miscounted. The servicers transfer most  information through standardized templates that Education developed. Federal internal control  standards state that agencies should use quality information to achieve  their objectives. Education officials told us they have plans for creating a  comprehensive PSLF servicing manual, but no timeline for doing so. To  ensure borrowers receive sufficiently detailed information on counts of  qualifying payments, Education stated it will review the letters the PSLF  servicer sends to borrowers to determine how to better communicate  regarding qualifying payment counts, program requirements, and  employer eligibility.
Why GAO Did This Study

Starting in September 2017, the first borrowers became eligible and began applying to have their loans forgiven through the PSLF program. GAO was asked to review the PSLF program.
This report examines the (1) number of borrowers pursuing PSLF and the extent to which Education has conducted outreach to increase borrower awareness of program eligibility requirements, and (2) extent to which Education has provided key information to the PSLF servicer and borrowers. GAO analyzed data from the PSLF servicer on employment and loan certifications and loan forgiveness applications as of April 2018; reviewed Education's guidance and instructions for the PSLF servicer; assessed the information used by Education and the PSLF servicer and communicated to borrowers against federal internal control standards; and interviewed officials from Education and the four largest loan servicers, including the PSLF servicer.

What GAO Found

As of April 2018, over a million borrowers had taken steps to pursue Public Loan Service Forgiveness (PSLF) from the Department of Education (Education), but few borrowers have been granted loan forgiveness to date. The PSLF program, established by statute in 2007, forgives borrowers' federal student loans after they make at least 10 years of qualifying payments while working for certain public service employers and meeting other requirements. Over 890,000 borrowers have passed a first step towards potentially qualifying for PSLF by voluntarily having their employment and loans certified as eligible for PSLF as of April 2018, according to data from Education's PSLF loan servicer. While borrowers first became eligible to apply for loan forgiveness in September 2017, few applicants had met all requirements as of April 2018, with 55 borrowers having received loan forgiveness (see figure). Education has used various outreach methods to inform borrowers about PSLF, but the large number of denied borrowers suggests that many are still confused by the program requirements. A recently enacted law requires Education to conduct additional outreach to help borrowers understand how to meet program requirements.
Education does not provide key information to the PSLF servicer and borrowers.
Guidance and instructions: Education provides piecemeal guidance and instructions to the PSLF servicer it contracts with to process certification requests and loan forgiveness applications. This information is fragmented across the servicing contract, contract updates, and hundreds of emails. As a result, PSLF servicer officials said their staff are sometimes unaware of important policy clarifications. Education officials said they plan to create a comprehensive PSLF servicing manual but have no timeline for doing so.
Qualifying employers: Education has not provided the PSLF servicer and borrowers with a definitive source of information for determining which employers qualify a borrower for loan forgiveness, making it difficult for the servicer to determine whether certain employers qualify and for borrowers to make informed employment decisions.
Qualifying loan payments: Education does not ensure the PSLF servicer receives consistent information on borrowers' prior loan payments from the eight other federal loan servicers, which could increase the risk of miscounting qualifying payments. Borrowers also lack sufficiently detailed information to easily identify potential payment counting errors that could affect their eligibility for loan forgiveness.
These weaknesses are contrary to federal internal control standards for using and communicating quality information, creating uncertainty for borrowers and raising the risk some may be improperly granted or denied loan forgiveness.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that Education (1) develop a timeline for issuing a comprehensive guidance and instructions document for the PSLF servicer, (2) provide the PSLF servicer and borrowers with additional information about qualifying employers, (3) standardize payment information other loan servicers provide to the PSLF servicer, and (4) ensure borrowers receive sufficiently detailed information to help identify potential payment counting errors. Education agreed with GAO's recommendations.