Only 206 of the 41,000 people who applied for the new Public Service Loan Forgiveness program were accepted, according to federal data released this week. The program—the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007—was created for students whose chosen education and career paths were based on the government’s promise that their loans would be forgiven. The act allows the government to forgive student loans for graduates whose public service professions require advanced degrees but pay modest salaries to start, such as military, law enforcement, education, social work, and public health. “It’s clear that it’s not working, said Daniel Zibel, vice president of the National Student Legal Defense Network. “Public servants who thought they had a deal aren’t getting the benefit of that deal.”
