SERVICE Act

Sponsor: Joe Courtney (Democratic-CT)April 10, 2025

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Introduced

In Committee

Passed One Chamber

Passed Both Chambers

Signed into Law

Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.

Public service workers would get student loan forgiveness sooner, with more flexible rules and better online tools.

This bill would make it easier for people in public service jobs to get their federal student loans forgiven. It would cut the number of payments needed from 120 to 96. It would also let certain paused payment periods count and create an online portal to track progress and appeal denials.

What Would Change

Today, borrowers must make 120 qualifying monthly payments on eligible federal direct loans and be employed in a public service job at the time of loan cancellation. This bill would reduce the required payments to 96 and remove the requirement to be employed in public service at the time of cancellation. Currently, interest can be added to the principal loan balance (capitalized) after periods of paused payments, but this bill would prevent that from happening.

Key Provisions

Reduces the number of required monthly payments for Public Service Loan Forgiveness from 120 to 96.
Ends the requirement that borrowers must be employed in a public service job at the time their loans are cancelled.
Certain periods of deferment, such as for cancer treatment or military service, would count toward the required payments. Some forbearance periods, like for AmeriCorps or National Guard Duty, would also count.
Creates a 'buyback' option. This would allow eligible borrowers to make a lump sum payment. This payment would count past months when they were in public service but didn't make qualifying payments.
Prevents interest from being added to the principal balance (capitalized) on federal direct loans after periods of deferment or forbearance.

View on Congress.gov

HR 2829 · 119th Congress · April 10, 2025 · AI Summary by gemini-2.5-flash · 9/10

Lobbying Activity

4 filings mentioned this bill

Top Lobbying Clients

NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION

2 filings

AMERICAN SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING ASSOCIATION

2 filings

Top Lobbying Firms

1.NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION2 filings

2.AMERICAN SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING ASSOCIATION2 filings

Amounts reflect total quarterly lobbying spend reported to the Senate, not bill-specific spending. Source: Senate LDA filings.

4 filings mentioned this bill

Top Lobbying Clients

NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION

2 filings

AMERICAN SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING ASSOCIATION

2 filings

Top Lobbying Firms

1.NATIONAL TREASURY EMPLOYEES UNION2 filings

2.AMERICAN SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING ASSOCIATION2 filings

Amounts reflect total quarterly lobbying spend reported to the Senate, not bill-specific spending. Source: Senate LDA filings.