Rep. Courtney Fights to Protect Bedrock Student Loan Programs that Make College Affordable

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, at the Education and Workforce meeting on the budget bill, Rep. Joe Courtney (CT-02), a senior member of the Committee, fought back against the GOP’s plan to cut eligibility for the bipartisan Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program and the Pell Grant. 

The GOP’s budget bill changes PSLF eligibility to exclude the time doctors and dentists spend in internships and residencies as qualifying service that counts towards loan forgiveness. Rep. Courtney introduced an amendment to strike the provision in bill and replace it with his SERVICE Act, which improves and expands PSLF. 

In the midst of Committee debate, Rep. Courtney met with Dr. Rebecca Andrews – the University of Connecticut’s Director of Primary Care and a PSLF beneficiary – to discuss the consequences of the GOP’s proposal.

“We have to protect the residents,” Dr. Andrews said, referencing the GOP’s changes to PSLF eligibility. “I was a first-generation college and medical school graduate. I had no idea what I was getting into or how much money I would owe, so I did the National Health Service Corps which paid for a little bit of those costs, but I was able to get Public Service Loan Forgiveness during the pandemic. This is a momentous program that can get people into the practice of medicine.”

“The change that is being proposed would disqualify the months of medical practice that's done during residency, which can take years. Losing that time period just means that you're going to continue to pay more debt in terms of principal and interest and really make that career choice of going into primary care a lot more difficult,” said Courtney on GOP cuts to PSLF.

The GOP’s budget bill also degrades the Pell Grant by cutting eligibility and increasing requirements. Students would be required to take up to 30 credits per year to receive the full Pell Grant, when most schools only allow students to take 12 credits per semester. Furthermore, any student taking less than half-time will no longer be eligible for any Pell Grant, which would cut off at least 300,000 students from accessing aid.  These cuts would have significant consequences on community colleges because nearly a quarter of all Pell Grant funds go to community college students.

“Students who may take less than a full load of college credits because of their jobs or their family commitments are still in an economic position where the Pell Grant is instrumental or existential in terms fool them being able to skill-up and take advantage of job openings that exist in their local labor market. This bill would just totally foreclose that opportunity which is not just going to harm them individually and their families, but it’s also going to harm employers,” said Courtney on cuts to the Pell Grants.