Education Department updates backlog numbers for student loan repayment applications

The Education Department submitted an update on its processing for student loan income driven repayment (IDR) plan applications in a court filing on Monday as the Trump administration takes criticism on its pace.  

Education Secretary Linda McMahon said that in August, 305,000 IDR applications were approved or denied, while more than a million are still waiting to be processed.  

Back in July, 304,000 IDR applications were processed, and more than a million were also still waiting for approval.  

The filing also gave an update on those who have applied to have their student loans forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. 

In August, 5,600 PSLF buyback requests were processed, while 74,000 were still waiting on an answer. In July, more than 3,200 applications were processed while 72,000 buyback requests were waiting to be approved or denied.  

The update was provided in a lawsuit filed by the American Federation for Teachers (AFT) that alleges the department is denying borrowers the right to loan forgiveness or affordable repayment plans. The lawsuit was initially filed back in March. 

“The Department’s decision to withhold IDR and PSLF benefits is actively harming borrowers,” AFT said in a filing.  

The backlog has come down by almost half since May when 2 million borrowers were waiting for answers, but it could still be months before the rest of the applications are processed.