Sarbanes Applauds New CFPB Toolkit to Help Teachers, First Responders & Other Public Servants Tackle Student Loan Debt

TOWSON – U.S. Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) today applauded the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) creation of a user-friendly student loan debt toolkit – the Employer's Guide to Assisting Employees with Student Loan Repayment – to help working Americans, and specifically public servants, understand all their options to manage student loan debt. Congressman Sarbanes authored a major component of the toolkit, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which became law in 2007 as part of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act.

"The CFPB student debt toolkit and public service pledge campaign will help middle-class families better understand their options to pay for college," said Congressman Sarbanes. "I am particularly excited about the potential to bring more attention to the Income Based Repayment Plan and Public Service Loan Forgiveness Programs. Our country depends on talented and dedicated teachers, nurses, first responders and other public servants and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program allows more college graduates to pursue these careers without being overwhelmed by their debt. Young Americans should be able to live by their dreams, not their student loans."

"Our young people should not be mired in debt because they stir themselves to the call of public service. They deserve to know all their options," said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. "Our toolkit and pledge can be a win-win for employers, the public they serve, and their employees who are facing student debt loads that are imposing unprecedented burdens upon this generation."

For more information on the student loan debt toolkit, go to http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201308_cfpb_public-service-toolkit.pdf. And to take part in the public service pledge, go to www.consumerfinance.gov/pledge.

Information from the U.S. Department of Education about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program can be found at https://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/charts/public-service.