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<p class="MsoNormal">In my opinion, it doesn’t matter your political affiliation and whether you personally agree with the tenants of what Public Service Loan Forgiveness was created to do. It is a piece of legislation that became a promise to borrowers, that
as long as they followed some rules (that I think we could all see had the potential to be confusing to implement and monitor from day 1) about repayment and employment, then the federal government would show its appreciation, if you will, for their work in
those public service jobs by forgiving a portion of their loans. The last 10 years of repayment has been mishandled by ED and by the servicer to the point that it borders on fraud. When students borrow loans, they become consumers, and as consumers believing
in the possibility of what PSLF could offer to their futures, they were misdirected at nearly every turn, leaving them with the gut-punch of no forgiveness.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I usually try to avoid broad brushstrokes for pronouns with “they” this and that, but when
<b>29,000</b> applications were submitted for PSLF and only <b>96</b> were approved, that’s not a small cohort of students who simply didn’t follow the rules. That’s an administrative failure on the part of ED, and couple that with all the other deficiencies
we’ve been seeing and dealing with over the years, ED needs to be held accountable. Unfortunately, accountability seems to be in terribly short supply these days.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Pam McConahay, thank you for pointing out this <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/10/17/653853227/the-student-loan-whistleblower">
article</a>. It’s worth the read if you hadn’t seen it elsewhere.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rant (temporarily) over. Thanks!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mendy Schmerer, M.Ed.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Director, Office of Student Financial Aid</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">1106 N. Stonewall, Rm 301</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Oklahoma City, OK 73117</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">(405) 271-2118, x 48817 (p)</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">(405) 271-5446 (f)</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><a href="mailto:Mendy-Schmerer@ouhsc.edu"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:blue">Mendy-Schmerer@ouhsc.edu</span></a></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1F497D">
</span><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1F497D"><a href="http://www.ouhsc.edu/financialservices/SFA/"><span style="color:blue">http://www.ouhsc.edu/financialservices/SFA/</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1F497D"><img border="0" width="39" height="39" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01D466E0.003C3440" alt="FB-f-Logo__blue_29"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Become our fan on Facebook:<span style="color:#1F497D">
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/OUHSCFinancialAid"><span style="color:blue">www.facebook.com/OUHSCFinancialAid</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:8.0pt;color:black">CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;color:black">This email, including any attachments, contains information from The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, which may be confidential or privileged. The information is intended to be for
the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the contents of this information is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify
the sender immediately by a “reply to sender only” message and destroy all electronic and hard copies of the communication, including attachments.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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