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The Reality of Student Loan Debt

Student loan debt is one of the most significant concerns for many law students pursuing careers in public interest law, especially first-generation college graduates applying to law school. 

When I decided to go to law school, I wanted to learn how to become a legally trained social justice advocate and add one more set of tools to my toolbelt in advocating with different communities.  I was set on my career goal and my purpose.  I knew I would be a civil rights litigator and I was ready for it.  

What I was not ready for was the financial cost associated with pursuing a legal education. I graduated law school with over $130,000 of federal student loan debt that I accumulated in only three years. 

In this post, I want to share my journey navigating student loan repayment, Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), and the challenges I’ve faced with the system that promised a path to relief but is not delivering on that promise.

My Search for A Solution to Managing Federal Student Loan Debt

When I started working at a private public interest law firm after graduation, I started making student loan payments but I wasn’t seeing any real dent in my loan amount.  I was mostly paying interest that was accruing.  I came to learn that it was going to take careful financial planning and a lot more money to successfully tackle the debt.  I wasn’t sure where to start.  So, I met with a financial planner but didn’t get the guidance I needed. 

Then, I stumbled on a book, The Student Loan Handbook for Law Students and Attorneys by Adam Minsky, who is also a lawyer and has a specialty in student loans. It wasn’t until I stumbled upon The Student Loan Handbook that I realized how important it was to understand not just the loans, but how they work specifically for lawyers. This book was just the resource I needed.

I read the book while on my Christmas break and it was a great gift for myself. While I don’t remember the specifics, I walked away from the book with the following impressions about  about carrying large student loan debt from law school:

• If you’re in Big Law with a Big Law salary, you can make a plan to pay off your student loan debt efficiently.
• If you’re at a mid-size firm, you can also make a plan to pay off your student loan debt but it may take you longer than if you had a higher salary.
• If you’re at a government agency or non-profit organization, you can qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness after making 120 payments while working at a qualifying employer and making payments under a qualifying repayment plan. 
• If you’re at a small private public interest firm, like I was at the time, you don’t make the salary as your peers in Big Law to be able to more painlessly pay off the debt on a fast timeline and you don’t qualify for PSLF like your peers doing similar work working for a government agency or non profit organization.  

On balance, I thought I was in a tough position.  I didn’t make a high enough salary like peers in Big Law to be able to make monthly payments to pay off my debt in 10 years or less but I also didn’t want to be in debt for more than a decade. Though I was doing similar work to my friends who were on their way to qualifying for forgiveness under PSLF, I wasn’t going to be able to avail myself of the PSLF program because I didn’t work for a qualifying employer.  So, I thought my best bet might be to make a move to a non-profit organization or government agency to begin the path towards forgiveness under PSLF.  But I loved my firm and my job and I wasn’t quite ready to make the jump. 

A month later, a friend suggested I apply for a job at a nonprofit organization.  I initially declined to review it. But when I looked at the job post, I thought it would be a perfect fit for me.  I applied, wholeheartedly not knowing if the application would go anywhere.  Nearly eight years later, I’ve been at the same non-profit organization but I’m not 8 years in towards progress for public service loan forgiveness.  

The Promise of PSLF and the Troubling Reality

In 2007, Congress created the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program as a way to ease the financial burden for those in public service careers, including lawyers like me. The PSLF program was designed to forgive federal student loans after 10 years of qualifying payments for individuals working in public service roles, including government and nonprofit positions.  The idea was simple–work hard, serve the community, make modest payments on your debt, and, in return, get some financial relief.

I wish I could say that I was also closer to loan forgiveness as I thought I would be when I started working at a legal non profit organization in 2017.  If the program operated the way it should without interruptions, I should have 93 payments that qualify towards Public Service Loan Forgiveness.  I should be only 27 payments away from qualifying for loan forgiveness under PSLF.  Instead, I am currently not making any progress towards PSLF because of legal challenges to my repayment plan, the Save on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan.  

Why can’t I make progress towards having my loans forgiven under PSLF?  Because I was on a repayment plan that was challenged in the courts.  

Unfortunately, several Republican Attorneys General decided to file a lawsuit against the Biden administration challenging the SAVE repayment program arguing, in part, that MOHELA, one of the loan servicers for the US Department of Education, would be harmed if student loan borrowers had lower payments and could have their loans forgiven.   

Source:  Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief, Missouri v. Biden, (E.D. Mo. Apr. 8, 2024), https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024-4-8-Final-Complaint-Missouri-v.-Biden-002.pdf.

While MOHELA has only provided $100M in college scholarships to Missouri residents since 2010 (Id. at 27),  MOHELA also generates hundreds of millions in revenue each year to provide loan services.  It feels to me that this lawsuit was designed to protect the profit margins of one company even though the SAVE program and the other Biden administration programs challenged would have helped thousands of everyday people who dared to take out student loans to finance their education.

Beginning in mid-2024, courts have required the federal government to put a pause on the Saving on A Valuable Education, or SAVE, repayment plan.  As a result of the initial court order in summer of 2024, I was forced into an administrative forbearance because I was no longer allowed to make payments under the SAVE repayment plan.  Worse, the administrative forbearance period means that I am not making any progress towards forgiveness.  I am in administrative forbearance through no fault of my own.  With the 8th Circuit’s decision in mid-February to uphold the injunction on the SAVE program, I am left feeling hopeless that the courts will help borrowers in these lawsuits.  So, I decided that it’s time to switch repayment plans.  But now, I can’t even do that!  

It’s February 25, 2025 and I want to complete the application to transition to a different repayment plan so I can resume making payments and make progress towards public service loan forgiveness.  But the US Department of Education has decided to take down the application to switch repayment plans. 

Screenshot from the Federal Student Aid’s website at https://studentaid.gov/idr/ on February 25, 2025.

Now, I’m stuck.  There is no guidance as to where to go next.  I want to resume making payments but the US Department of Education has taken down the application from the website. The lack of communication, guidance, and accessible process to get back on track with student loan payments is outrageous and infuriating.  

Between state governments choosing to protect the profits of a corporation over the interests of everyday people and now the Trump administration’s US Department of Education unceremoniously taking away our ability to apply for alternate (and less favorable) repayment program so we can move on with our lives is so frustrating, demoralizing, and maddening.

What Happens When You’re Stuck in Administrative Forbearance?

Unfortunately, I’m not alone in facing this issue.  Many borrowers working toward public service loan forgiveness have encountered this administrative forbearance if they were enrolled in the SAVE repayment plan.

I wish I could say that this is an opportunity for the Trump administration’s US Department of Education to do some good for student loan borrowers.  But I won’t count on it. Instead, I’m bracing for the worse.  

As someone who likes to plan things out, I find it really hard to plan for my financial future because I’m saddled with federal student loans and the reality of a Republic administration does not bode well for people like me:   

• Will the Trump administration allow us to resume making payments on a viable repayment plan that is affordable and manageable to progress towards loan forgiveness under PSLF?  
• Will the Trump administration’s US Department of Education (US DoE) do its job and track PSLF progress with integrity and fidelity to the statute’s purpose?
• Will the Trump administration’s US DoE process PSLF applications and honor loan discharges where borrowers have done their due diligence to meet the program requirements over a span of 10 years or more? 

I’m nervous for what is to come and the uncertainty is anxiety-producing.  Ultimately, I hope this Republican administration doesn’t make me regret using student loans to finance my legal education.   

If you’re in a similar situation as me, I want you to know that you’re not alone!  

How I’m Navigating the Republican Administration’s Student Loan Setbacks and What You Can Do

If you are frustrated like I am, here are some things I’ve done and that you can do to help you gear up for any potential future battles with the US Department of Education and our loan servicers about our repayment plans and PSLF eligibility in the future:

1. Collect and Save Every Record Related to Your Student Loans:  Screenshot or save PDF’d copies of every piece of evidence to document every payment you’ve made, every communication with your loan servicer(s), and any changes to your repayment plans.  Documentation is crucial, as mistakes can and do happen.  If you haven’t yet, here are some things you can consider checking out:
   1. Log in to https://studentaid.gov/, go to “My Aid” in the dropdown menu under your name, and click on “Download My Aid Data.”  Save the file to your drive or cloud.  This is a text file and not very easy to read but it contains a lot of your information.  Keep it!
   2. Log in to https://studentaid.gov/, go to “my Dashboard” in the dropdown menu under your name, and expand any of the boxes that contain information for you.  Screenshot the information you see.  Alternatively, save the page as a PDF if you can.  Screenshot or otherwise save every data source on this page! 
   3. Log in to https://studentaid.gov/, go to “My Documents” in the dropdown menu under your name, and select “Master Promissory Note (MPN)” in the dropdown menu for “Completed Documents.”  Save each and every single promissory note, especially if you are pursuing PSLF.  Your promissory note will have language indicating that your loans are eligible for PSLF if you meet the program requirements. The language may may look something like this: 

2. File a Request Under the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act For Your Student Loan Records.  In late 2024, I received conflicting information on how to request and receive my student loan payment history and the response I received from my loan servicer was frustrating.  So I decided to file a request under the FOIA and Privacy Act for these records. I’m not sure when I’ll hear back.  But if you want to know the steps I took to make the request, drop me a comment and I’ll share what I did.
3. Advocate for Student Loan Reform.  There are advocacy organizations working tirelessly to reform the student loan industry and champion consumers’ rights and interests.  Your voice can help bring about change!
   1. The Debt Collective:  https://debtcollective.org/what-we-do/campaigns/student-debt/
   2. Student Borrower Protection Center:  https://protectborrowers.org/
4. Follow reporters or agencies that cover student loan issues:
   1. If you’re in California, follow the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation:  https://dfpi.ca.gov/consumers/student-loans/.
      1. They have a very useful know your rights guide on the California Student Borrower Bill of Rights, including how to file a complaint with them if your loan servicer has violated California’s consumer protection laws for student loan borrowers:  https://dfpi.ca.gov/consumers/student-loans/rights/ 
   2. Adam Minsky on Forbes. Here is one of his latest articles, “Student Loan Forgiveness Is In Danger Under 3 Programs After New Court Ruling,”   https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamminsky/2025/02/18/student-loan-forgiveness-is-imperiled-under-3-programs-after-new-court-ruling/. 
5. Look for Alternative Loan Forgiveness Programs.  Check if your state offers loan forgiveness programs.
   1. The American Bar Association has a list of these resources available at https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_aid_indigent_defense/loan_repayment_assistance_programs/.   
   2. If you’re in California, check out the state’s Public Interest Attorney Loan Repayment (PIALR) Program, https://www.csac.ca.gov/pialr. 

If you’re graduating from law school between 2025-2019, you want to be a public interest lawyer and you have student loan debt, you should carefully weigh whether the uncertainty associated with the rocky PSLF program is right for you.  Do your research. Track news about the PSLF.  Talk to lawyers who wanted to pursue public interfest but didn’t because of student loans and talk to lawyers who are pursuing (or have benefited from) PSLF and what their experiences have been.  

Final Thoughts

I wish I had a crystal ball to tell you (and my anxious brain) that all will be well.  Unfortunately, now under a federal Republican administration, I’m not hopeful that the road ahead will be without its bumps, especially given the big bump so many of us are facing as of this week.  

As of today, January 26, PSLF is embedded in current law.  It would take an act of congress to repeal the program.  Hopefully, that doesn’t happen.

The next four years will be frustrating ones for student loan borrowers.  I’ll post updates on my path on my blog in case it’s helpful for anyone else.  Be sure to subscribe to my blog at www.BrightNewBeginnings.blog to follow my posts about student loans and other topics of interest to current and aspiring public interest lawyers.

Leave a comment below if you’ve faced challenges with PSLF or if you have tips to share with other student loan borrowers!