YourVoice.Now Summary
Your MoneyWorkers & JobsTransparency & AccountabilityEducators in high-need schools could get all federal student loans erased after five years, with monthly bills covered.
Your Money
An educator who works five years in a high-need school or early childhood program would owe nothing more. The whole balance would be erased, including interest and fees.
The Education Department would pay an educator's minimum monthly bill during service, summer breaks included. Those months would also count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
Years worked before the law took effect would count toward the five. Those years would not have to be in a row.
Head Start staff, family child care providers, and school principals would qualify. So would teachers at Tribal, Native Hawaiian, and Bureau of Indian Education schools.
A parent who took out a Parent PLUS loan for a child who becomes an educator would get it erased. An educator who took one out for their own child would also qualify.
On Direct Loans, no interest would build up while an educator does qualifying work. Older FFEL loans would not get this break.
An educator who stops before five years keeps the monthly payments the government already made. Money the educator paid in earlier would not be refunded.
Workers & Jobs
An educator promoted to a new job at the same school or program keeps counting service. Moving up would no longer restart the five years.
A school year cut short still counts if the educator finished at least half of it. This covers family or medical leave, military duty, a return to school, or a disaster area.
Teachers of Alaska Native, American Indian, or Native Hawaiian languages would qualify without full state licensing. Every other teacher would still need a full license.
Transparency & Accountability
The Education Department would post a public list of the schools and programs that count. It would update the list every year.
Within 180 days of launch, the Department would notify schools, educators, and borrowers. The notice would explain how older loans and past work count.
Today the Education Department must talk new higher education rules through with schools, students, and lenders. The bill would let it skip those talks to launch faster.
More about this bill
Teachers, principals, and child care providers could get every federal student loan wiped out. The bill would erase 100 percent of what they still owe after five years in a high-need school or early childhood program. Interest and fees would go too. Today's teacher program forgives at most $5,000. Math, science, and special education teachers can get $17,500. While an educator serves, the government would make their monthly loan payment. Summer breaks count. Those months would also count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness. On Direct Loans, no interest would build up during that service. Far more educators would qualify than under today's program. The bill adds Head Start staff, family child care providers, and school principals. It adds teachers at Tribal, Native Hawaiian, and Bureau of Indian Education schools. Teachers of Native languages would qualify without a state license. A high-need school is generally one where more than 30 percent of students live in poverty. The five years would not have to be in a row. Teaching done before the law passed would count. Older loans would count too. Parent PLUS loans count in both directions. A parent who borrowed for a future educator would qualify. So would an educator who borrowed for their own child. Leaving before five years would not force an educator to pay back help already given. But money an educator already repaid would not come back. The changes would start 180 days after the bill became law. The Education Department would have to run the program within 270 days. It would publish a list of qualifying schools and programs. That list would be updated each year. Within 180 days of the launch, the Department would have to tell schools, educators, and borrowers about the new rules. That notice would explain how older loans and past teaching count. To move faster, the Department could skip the public negotiation step it normally uses to write these rules.
Congressional Summary
Loan Forgiveness for Educators Act of 2026This bill expands loan forgiveness for educators by revising the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program. The program provides loan forgiveness (up to $17,500) for teachers who are highly qualified, teach full-time in a low-income elementary or secondary school or educational service agency, and complete five years of consecutive service.Specifically, the bill renames the program as the Educator Loan Forgiveness Programs.Additionally, the bill expands the program by making additional loan types eligible for benefits under the program (e.g., Parent PLUS Loans).Further, the bill expands program eligibility to early childhood educators and program directors serving in early childhood education programs and school leaders serving in public high-need schools.The bill requires the Department of Education tomake monthly student loan payments on behalf of the educator during qualifying service (i.e., employment as a full-time qualifying educator in a high-need school or an early childhood education program),provide complete loan forgiveness after five years of qualifying service (which does not have to be consecutive), andtake steps to notify borrowers about changes to the program.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2026-05-19
- Date Added
- 2026-07-07
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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