Giving gifts that will last

It’s December: now is the time for family, for festivities, for gift-giving. Every year, Black Friday kicks off a season of spending that seems to affirm the old adage, “it’s better to give than to receive.” Unfortunately, we’re not always good at giving the right gift, or ones that will endure. A trip to your local shopping mall, Target, or Walmart in early January—and the flurry of returns you’re bound to see—should give you all the evidence you need.

Instead of giving things, what if we gave ideas? Hopes? Projects? Yesterday was Giving Tuesday, an opportunity to share the generosity of the season with nonprofits and other charitable organizations. It’s a chance to make an investment in the future—not through your retirement account, or a stock portfolio, but in people and programs that work to make the world a better place.

Investing goodwill toward the future through student loan forgiveness

At Navigate, we’re spreading cheer by working toward a better future, where financial outlooks are rosier and student loan debt melts away like a spring thaw. We believe that Public Service Loan Forgiveness is the right tool, a powerful one, for many to brighten their financial future: a transformation—a gift—that can make an enduring change in peoples’ lives.

We’re in the midst of an exciting time for PSLF, a time for optimism. After years of frustration and stagnation, borrowers have reason to believe that real changes are coming to the program. Under President Biden, we are currently in a Limited Waiver Opportunity in which previously denied borrowers can qualify for PSLF. Although the keyword in this provision is “limited”—the window to take advantage ends in October, 2022—it signals a desire to finally revamp the program and make up for its previous shortfalls.

Working to reform PSLF, investing in success for future borrowers

The Limited Waiver Opportunity (LWO) comes after months (years, actually!) of work from advocacy groups pushing for changes to PSLF. In June, Navigate and other industry advocates testified to the Department of Education, arguing that PSLF was in shambles and in dire need of repair. After an opportunity for public comment, Secretary Cardona announced the LWO as a stopgap until broader reforms could be enacted. We’re not done.

While the LWO is an important—game-changing for some borrowers—interim measure, it’s a small step towards lasting solutions. Our friends at the Student Borrower Protection Center have proposed a long and detailed memorandum to the Dept. of Ed. on how PSLF can be permanently fixed. It’s hard to know whether it will gain traction, and what will come next for the millions of student borrowers who rely on this crucial program. But we haven’t given up hope, and neither should you.

We and our partners are working to make sure that PSLF stays strong, works better, and endures. You may not be able to wrap it and tie a bow around it, but—for many—PSLF is a gift that keeps on giving, and one that can last for generations.