“Nightmares” and “horror stories”: Experiences of higher education staff navigating public service loan forgiveness

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program has not been investigated through the eyes of borrowers working in the field of higher education. This study engages with 30 full-time higher education professionals from 26 different institutions of higher education to share their experiences navigating PSLF. Through Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1994) ecological systems theory, findings suggest borrowers struggled with PSLF’s complexity and suffered from poor or absent communication from the U.S. Department of Education, loan servicers, and institutional employers. Ultimately, borrowers felt forced to seek support outside of these entities to matriculate through PSLF. Implications for research, policy, and practice are addressed.