Documents › Agency rules › 2025-19729
Education Department
William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program
Published October 31, 2025. Takes effect July 1, 2026, printed at 90 FR 48966, amending 34 CFR 685. 37,386 words.
Some public workers can have a student loan wiped. This sets new rules for that.
What the Rule Says It Does
The Secretary establishes new regulations on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) program under 34 CFR 685.219 by adding or clarifying provisions to exclude employers that engage in specific enumerated illegal activities such that they have a substantial illegal purpose, including defining obligations and processes tied to making such a determination of an employer, clarifying that borrowers will receive full credit for work performed, until the effective date of the Secretary's determination that an employer is no longer a qualifying employer under the rule; and establishing methods for an employer to regain eligibility following a determination of ineligibility by the Secretary. These regulations ensure that taxpayer dollars are not misused by preventing PSLF benefits from going to individuals employed by organizations that have a substantial illegal purpose. The revisions strengthen accountability, enhance program integrity, and protect hardworking taxpayers from shouldering the cost of improper subsidies granted to employees of organizations that undermine national security and American values through criminal activity.
This is the rule's own summary, as the Federal Register prints it.
The Orders It Names
- Executive Order 14187: Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation
- Executive Order 14235: Restoring Public Service Loan Forgiveness
The rule names these orders itself. What it does about them is a reading, and none is recorded here.
On the Face of the Rule
- As filed
[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 209 (Friday, October 31, 2025)] [Rules and Regulations] [Pages 48966-49002] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2025-19729]
Vol. 90
Friday,
No. 209
October 31, 2025
Part II
Department of Education
34 CFR Part 685
William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program; Final Rule
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Part 685
[Docket ID ED-2025-OPE-0016] RIN 1840-AA28
William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program
- AGENCY
Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education.
- ACTION
Final regulations.
- DATES
These regulations are effective July 1, 2026. For the implementation dates of the regulatory provisions, see the Implementation Date of These Regulations in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
- FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
Tamy Abernathy, Office of Postsecondary Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: (202) 987-0385. Email: [email protected].
The fields the Federal Register prints at the head of the rule, quoted as printed. Its summary is quoted above.
Why the Agency Says It Is Doing This
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
Executive Summary
The Department of Education (Department) is committed to ensuring that taxpayer dollars are not used to support organizations engaged in unlawful activities. To uphold this principle, the Secretary will exclude organizations engaged in specific enumerated activities such that they have a substantial illegal purpose from being considered qualifying employers under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The activities indicative of a substantial illegal purpose include aiding and abetting violations of Federal immigration laws, supporting terrorism or engaging in violence for the purpose of obstructing or influencing Federal Government policy, engaging in the chemical and surgical castration or mutilation of children in violation of Federal or state law, engaging in the trafficking of children to another State for purposes of emancipation from their lawful parents in violation of Federal or State law, engaging in a pattern of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination, and engaging in a pattern of violating State laws. This action aligns with President Trump's Executive Order Restoring Public Service Loan Forgiveness, Executive Order 14235 (Mar. 7, 2025) directing the Department to revise PSLF eligibility criteria to prevent Federal funds from subsidizing activities that undermine national security and American values. The final rule clarifies the definition of a qualifying employer, specifies activities constituting a substantial illegal purpose, outlines the impact on borrower eligibility, and ensures employers are notified and given an opportunity to respond before any adverse decision by the Secretary. These measures strengthen the integrity of the PSLF program and protect American taxpayers from supporting organizations engaged in illegal activities such that the organization has a substantial illegal purpose.
The passage that opens the rule's preamble, where the agency sets out what it is doing and on what authority. Every heading that follows it is listed below.
What the Rule Contains
Every heading the Federal Register prints in this rule, in the order it prints them. 39 headings, 37,386 words in all.
- AGENCYOn its face · 8 words
- ACTIONOn its face · 3 words
- SUMMARYOn its face · 172 words
- DATESOn its face · 26 words
- FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACTOn its face · 23 words
- SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATIONPreamble · 2 words
- Executive SummaryPreamble · 264 words
- Purpose of This Regulatory ActionPreamble · 5 words
- Summary of the Major Provisions of This Regulatory ActionPreamble · 541 words
- BackgroundPreamble · 1,490 words
- Analysis of Public Comments and ChangesPreamble · 208 words
- Process for Out-of-Scope CommentsPreamble · 67 words
- Request To Extend Public Comment PeriodPreamble · 258 words
- General CommentsPreamble · 273 words
- General Support for the RegulationsPreamble · 961 words
- General Opposition to the RegulationsPreamble · 1,796 words
- Legal AuthorityPreamble · 2 words
- General Legal Authority To Change and ClarifyPreamble · 3,730 words
- Illegality DoctrinePreamble · 2 words
- Application of the Illegality DoctrinePreamble · 1,154 words
- Lack of Statutory AuthorityPreamble · 247 words
- Duplication of Existing Legal RegimesPreamble · 283 words
- Viewpoint Discrimination First Amendment--Free Speech and AssociationPreamble · 288 words
- Due Process and VaguenessPreamble · 890 words
- Equal Protection ConcernsPreamble · 770 words
- Contract ConcernsPreamble · 850 words
- Retroactivity ConcernsPreamble · 11,860 words
- PSLF Program AdministrationPreamble · 547 words
- Other Notable Public CommentsPreamble · 386 words
- X. Regulatory Impact AnalysisPreamble · 1,469 words
- 4. Discussion of Costs and BenefitsPreamble · 3,093 words
- Category BenefitsPreamble · 38 words
- Category CostsPreamble · 39 words
- Category TransfersPreamble · 21 words
- 6. Alternatives ConsideredPreamble · 1,939 words
- Paperwork Reduction ActPreamble · 658 words
- Intergovernmental ReviewPreamble · 70 words
- FederalismPreamble · 254 words
- List of SubjectsRegulatory text · 2,620 words
The Rest of the Text
This rule runs to 37,386 words. The rest of it is set out over 3 pages, split at the rule's own headings so that no heading is parted from the words printed under it.
- Text 1 of 3: Purpose of This Regulatory Action to Contract Concerns19 headings · 13,815 words
- Text 2 of 3: Retroactivity Concerns to 6. Alternatives Considered9 headings · 19,392 words
- Text 3 of 3: Paperwork Reduction Act to List of Subjects4 headings · 3,602 words
- The rule itself
Education Department, “William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program,” 90 FR 48966 (October 31, 2025). Effective July 1, 2026.
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/10/31/2025-19729/william-d-ford-federal-direct-loan-direct-loan-program - This page
“William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program,” a final rule naming an order indexed here. Read the Mandate, https://readthemandate.org/rules/rule-2025-19729/ (retrieved October 10, 2026).
Cite the document when the claim is about what the document says. Cite this page when the indexing, the wording or the record of what has happened is what is being relied on.
How This Rule Is Set Out
Federal Register documents are United States government works and are not under copyright, so the rule is here whole rather than cut to an excerpt. It is split at the headings the Register itself prints: the line it is filed under, the captioned fields on its face, the preamble where the agency says what it is doing and why, and the amendments to the Code of Federal Regulations. No passage is shortened. This rule is long enough that its text is set out over 3 pages rather than one.
Two things the Register prints are not reproduced: the running head it repeats at every page break, and the tables it sets as pictures rather than as words. Its own marker for one of those tables, [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED], is left standing where the table was, so a reader can see that something is there and follow the link to the page it is on.
A heading with nothing quoted under it is one the rule prints on its own, with the words that follow it set under the headings beneath.