教师工会起诉教育部：近9万件学贷豁免回购申请积压，有借款人等了近两年
美国教师联合会（American Federation of Teachers, AFT）与九名学生贷款借款人10月30日向位于华盛顿的哥伦比亚特区联邦地区法院提起拟议集体诉讼，状告美国教育部（U.S. Department of Education）与教育部长 Linda McMahon，指控教育部拖延处理公共服务贷款豁免（Public Service Loan Forgiveness, PSLF）的「回购」申请、不给借款人的公共服务时间计分，并追回此前已经计入的月份。案件编号为 1:26-cv-03826，工会主席 Randi Weingarten 以其职务身份担任领衔原告。
PSLF 是国会2007年设立的项目：在政府或非营利机构等公共服务岗位工作满十年、累计作出120次合格还款后，借款人余下的联邦学生贷款可获注销。「回购」机制允许借款人补缴处于延期或暂缓（forbearance）期间的月份，把这些月份补计入120次还款门槛——许多借款人2024年夏季被置于 SAVE 计划暂缓期，正是靠回购补回那段时间。
诉状援引教育部在另一宗案件中提交法庭的状态报告：待决的回购申请从2025年4月的49,318件激增至2026年3月的89,720件，接近翻倍；截至2026年4月30日，积压仍有约88,000件。诉状称，其间教育部平均每月只裁定约1,472件申请，即便按报告期内的最快速度、且不再受理新申请，清完这批积压也要超过18个月。部分借款人已等待近两年：佛罗里达州政府律师 Antonio Lozada 欠约19.1万美元，已计116次合格还款，2024年11月提交回购申请至今近24个月未获裁定；俄勒冈州乡村医院重症药剂师 David Petley 欠约33.8万美元，2025年5月提交申请，等了约18个月。
诉状还指控，教育部自2026年8月起向借款人发出「合格还款次数削减更新」通知，永久调减已计的还款次数：纽约州一名语言病理学家 Elizabeth Schoepflin 已收到凑满120次的确认，却被追减14个月；另一名原告 Renee Johnson 的计数从118次被减至114次。AFT 在诉状中称，教育部此举是「把本应获注销贷款的借款人困在债务里」，要求法院责令教育部处理申请、恢复计数并为符合条件者注销贷款，诉讼不寻求金钱赔偿。
教育部一方则表示，计数更正源于需要纠正的「编码错误」。据 CNBC 报道，教育部发言人称，这些错误是上届政府造成的，导致部分借款人的还款计数不准确，教育部致力于确保每一笔合格还款都正确计入借款人账户。案件目前处于早期阶段，法院尚未作出裁决。
Teachers Union Sues Education Department Over PSLF Backlog: Nearly 90,000 Buyback Requests Pending
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and nine student loan borrowers filed a proposed class action on October 30 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the U.S. Department of Education and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, accusing the department of delaying Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) "buyback" determinations, failing to credit borrowers for time worked in public service, and clawing back time it had already credited. The case, No. 1:26-cv-03826, names AFT President Randi Weingarten as lead plaintiff in her official capacity.
Congress created PSLF in 2007: after ten years of public service work and 120 qualifying payments, a borrower's remaining federal student loan debt is forgiven. The buyback mechanism lets borrowers pay for months spent in deferment or forbearance so those months count toward the 120 payments — the route many borrowers placed into the SAVE plan forbearance in the summer of 2024 must use to reclaim that time.
Citing the department's own status reports filed in a separate case, the complaint says pending buyback applications nearly doubled, from 49,318 in April 2025 to 89,720 in March 2026, and that about 88,000 requests were still pending as of April 30, 2026. During that period the department decided roughly 1,472 requests per month; even at its fastest demonstrated pace, and with no new applications, clearing the backlog would take more than 18 months, the complaint says. Some borrowers have waited close to two years: Antonio Lozada, a Florida government lawyer who owes about $191,000 and had reached 116 of 120 qualifying payments, filed his buyback application in November 2024 and, nearly 24 months later, has no determination; David Petley, a critical care pharmacist at a rural Oregon hospital who owes about $338,000, has waited about 18 months since filing in May 2025.
The complaint also alleges that, beginning in August 2026, the department sent borrowers "Qualifying Payment Reduction Update" notices permanently cutting payment counts it had previously awarded: Elizabeth Schoepflin, a New York speech-language pathologist who had been told she had reached 120 payments, had 14 months removed, and another plaintiff, Renee Johnson, saw her count fall from 118 to 114. The AFT says the department is "trapping in debt borrowers whose loans should be forgiven," and asks the court to order the department to process applications, restore credit and cancel the loans of eligible borrowers; the suit seeks no money damages.
For its part, the department has said the count corrections stem from "coding errors" that needed fixing. A department spokesperson told CNBC the errors were made by the previous administration and resulted in inaccurate payment counts for some borrowers, and that the department remains committed to ensuring every qualifying payment is properly credited. The case is at an early stage and the court has not ruled.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：位于华盛顿的美国教育部总部 Lyndon Baines Johnson 大楼入口（资料图）。G. Edward Johnson 摄，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / The entrance of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C. (file photo). Photo by G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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