No. Trump’s March 7, 2025, executive order did not end Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), and the employer rule developed to implement it was later vacated before it took effect. The Department of Education said on September 22, 2026, that it is removing the related employer attestation from the PSLF form. Separate student-loan repayment changes that took effect July 1, 2026, may affect which repayment plans qualify for PSLF, but they are a different policy track.
What Trump’s PSLF executive order directed
The March 7, 2025, order, Restoring Public Service Loan Forgiveness, directed the Secretary of Education to propose revisions to the PSLF regulation, 34 C.F.R. 685.219. Its stated policy was to exclude from PSLF people employed by organizations whose activities have a “substantial illegal purpose.” The order itself did not immediately change the eligibility regulation.
The order named categories it said should be covered, including aiding or abetting violations of federal immigration laws; certain support for terrorism; specified child-abuse activities; patterns of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination; and patterns of violating certain state tort laws. These were categories in the order, not a description of a currently effective employer-eligibility rule.
The order described PSLF as a program Congress established in 2007 to encourage public service, with remaining student loans forgiven after ten years of service and ten years of minimum payments. That is the order’s summary; a borrower’s actual eligibility depends on current program requirements and their own employment, loans, payment history, and repayment plan.
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What happened to the employer rule
The Department’s September 22, 2026, notice says final regulations published October 31, 2025, would have revised the PSLF certification and application. Among other things, the form would have required an employer attestation under penalty of perjury that the employer had not engaged in an activity with a substantial illegal purpose on or after July 1, 2026.
According to that Department notice, a federal judge vacated the rule on June 30, 2026, one day before it was scheduled to take effect. The Department says it is removing the related attestation from the PSLF form to comply with the court order. The notice does not identify the judge or explain the court’s reasoning, so it does not establish the rationale, any appeal status, or whether a later rule will replace the vacated one.
What this means for PSLF borrowers now
The Department’s latest notice does not say PSLF has ended. It says the employer rule was vacated before its effective date and that the related attestation is being removed. Do not treat that attestation or the vacated employer rule as currently in force based on the notice.
The PSLF/TEPSLF certification and application form is used to record qualifying employment and payment progress. The Department encourages borrowers to submit it annually and says borrowers must submit it once they reach 120 qualifying months. Use current Federal Student Aid guidance and your loan account information to check borrower-specific requirements and form instructions.
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- Keep records of your employment and loan-payment history.
- Submit the PSLF/TEPSLF form as directed by current Department guidance, including when you reach 120 qualifying months.
- Do not assume that a change in repayment-plan rules is the same as a change to employer eligibility.
Separate changes to repayment plans took effect July 1, 2026
A separate May 1, 2026, Department of Education final regulation implements statutory changes enacted in Public Law 119-21. The Department says the changes, effective July 1, 2026, include phasing out existing income-contingent plans, creating a Tiered Standard repayment option, and establishing the Repayment Assistance Plan.
Those changes can matter to PSLF because a repayment plan must qualify for a borrower’s payments to count. The final regulation says the Tiered Standard plan is not a qualifying PSLF repayment plan in certain situations, including for new Parent PLUS borrowers described in the rule. It also provides a limited transition path for some borrowers with existing Parent PLUS loans, subject to dates and conditions.
| Policy track | What it concerns | Status described by the cited Department materials |
|---|---|---|
| Employer eligibility | The 2025 order’s proposed exclusion tied to an employer’s alleged “substantial illegal purpose” and the related employer attestation. | The Department’s September 22, 2026, notice says the implementing rule was vacated June 30, 2026, before its effective date, and that the attestation is being removed. |
| Repayment-plan eligibility | Statutory and regulatory changes to repayment options, including consequences for whether payments qualify for PSLF. | The Department’s May 1, 2026, final regulation says these changes took effect July 1, 2026. Plan eligibility can depend on loan type and borrower history. |
Because loan type, borrowing dates, consolidation, and repayment history can affect the transition rules, the Parent PLUS examples should not be generalized to every borrower. Check current Federal Student Aid guidance before changing plans or assuming future payments will count.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How many borrowers had received PSLF forgiveness?
The Department’s October 31, 2025, final-rule analysis reported a historical total of 1,000,400 borrowers, with average forgiveness of $75,900, using data extracted September 25, 2025. It reported 694,900 borrowers whose greatest qualifying-employment time was in government, with average forgiveness of $73,100, and 305,500 whose greatest qualifying-employment time was with nonprofit organizations, with average forgiveness of $82,200. The figures were rounded and the Department noted that totals may differ from more recent estimates because of data timing, availability, and cleaning. They are historical figures, not a 2026 current total; the rule containing them was later vacated, as the Department reported in September 2026.
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