The Education Department is considering broadening the qualifications for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

• Early childhood educators may become eligible for loan forgiveness under a popular student loan program in the U.S. Department of Education.
• The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program may be expanded to include early childhood education workers, who often receive low wages.

Early childhood educators may become eligible for loan forgiveness under a popular student loan program in the U.S. Department of Education.

The Department announced on Thursday that it was seeking information on expanding the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program to include early childhood education workers, who often earn low wages.

According to U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal, early childhood educators play a crucial role in helping young children develop and flourish.

"If educators can access Public Service Loan Forgiveness, we can help our youngest children, their families, and their communities, as Kvaal added, but they are often poorly compensated, and student debt is a problem."

The PSLF program, enacted by President George W. Bush in 2007, enables eligible not-for-profit and government workers to have their federal student loans forgiven after 10 years of consistent payments. Extending the program to include early childhood educators could potentially broaden its scope to some for-profit employers, many of whom operate small businesses in the field.

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If eligible, over 450,000 workers with student loans could benefit from debt relief, according to the Education Department.

Mark Kantrowitz, a higher education expert, stated that the benefit would likely be retroactive in effect.

Depending on their profession, some workers may be able to clear their debt before 10 years.

The Education Department is seeking input from researchers, academics, policy experts, administrators, and individuals knowledgeable about early childhood educators to offer suggestions on determining eligibility and implementing changes. The comment period ends on July 22.