Dear California Community College Student Leaders,

I want to thank you again for contacting the Department of Education to express your concerns over regulations for Income-Based Repayment (IBR) and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), and also want to give you an update on these crucial programs. 

While the Department received over 1,500 comments on IBR and PSLF proposed regulations, some critical issues - such as the "double-counting penalty" for married borrowers - were not satisfactorily addressed.  We are continuing to monitor the situation and will make sure to keep you posted on any more upcoming changes and how you can help.  Some good news is that the U.S. Department of the Treasury determined that debt forgiven through PSLF is not considered taxable income under current law.

A more complete update, along with comprehensive information about IBR, PSLF, and an IBR calculator, can be found at www.ibrinfo.org.  

Thank you and feel free to contact us with any thoughts or questions,

Laura Szabo-Kubitz

Policy Associate

The Institute for College Access & Success

Laura@ticas.org