By Brenda Ortega
MEA Voice Editor

Sophia Connelly believed she was within three years of getting her remaining federal student loan debt forgiven when she joined a Zoom call with Christine Anderson, an MEA UniServ Director (UD) who helps MEA members navigate Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).

Anderson doubted it. Hadn’t Connelly made payments since graduating college in 2015? Didn’t she start teaching in Avondale in 2016? She should have been closer than that to wiping away her balance.

The federal PSLF program offers loan forgiveness to full-time public service workers after 10 years of qualified payments on qualifying debt, though it mostly failed to deliver until the Biden-Harris administration took office.

With Connelly sharing her screen, which showed her federal student aid account, Anderson directed her through pages to look at her loans, balances, repayment plan, and employment certification.

Within minutes, Anderson got Connelly switched into a qualifying repayment plan and identified why the system didn’t show her as close to forgiveness as she should have been: Two years of payments weren’t counted because she hadn’t properly verified employment back then.

Once those issues were fixed, Connelly stood ready for PSLF to wipe out her balance of more than $30,000 in 2025. The third-grade teacher looked forward to not having student debt and monthly payments hanging over the life she’s building with her husband and baby daughter.

“I’m amazed and I’m shocked and I’m grateful,” Connelly said of Anderson’s knowledge of PSLF. “I thought I did everything right; I’ve been keeping up every year doing the employment certification. I’m a little surprised so many payments hadn’t been counted.”

She added in a follow-up email: “That same day I was able to take what I learned in our Zoom and help a fellow colleague apply for an income-driven plan and certify employment online for PSLF.”

Before 2021 nothing about PSLF was easy, and few applicants got approved. When the first people became eligible in 2017, Betsy DeVos was the U.S. Education Secretary and 98% of applications were denied, said Marty Zmiejko, an MEA UD who also trains and assists members in applying.

“Back then the hoops you had to jump through were very very small, so fewer than 2% of people who applied were successful,” Zmiejko said.

Under leadership from Biden-appointed U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, the process has been reformed, simplified, and digitized—and improvements continue to be added.

Anderson leads a cadre of MEA staff who voluntarily provide assistance on PSLF beyond their regular job duties of serving units in the field, including UDs Zmiejko and Terese Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick said many members feel intimidated to even get started, “so it’s a matter of giving them the tools. To hear back from people that have had loans forgiven or reduced their monthly payments and started on the journey toward forgiveness, it’s very gratifying.”

Those interested should enroll in PSLF even before reaching the 10-year mark in a public service role. Members of the cadre deliver group trainings that include individual assistance, and they conduct one-on-one sessions as schedules allow.

MEA has helped members discharge millions of dollars in student loan debt in the past three years, and for many the financial relief is life changing, Anderson said. That’s why she and others do the work.

“Helping members obtain the promise given to them as public servants matters very much to me,” Anderson said. “Thanks to the Biden-Harris administration, the promise is being kept.”

To inquire about scheduling a virtual training, contact your local MEA field office.