Illustration: LA Johnson

A troubled student debt relief program for teachers, police officers, and other public service workers will soon get the makeover that borrowers have been demanding.

This week, the U.S. Department of Education is expected to unveil a significant overhaul of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which has been a magnet of confusion, mistakes, and mismanagement since its inception in 2007.

Photo: Noah Willman

Jadyn Turner is a student at Catholic University. She was drawn to the school in part by its aggressive marketing campaign. 

Marketing and advertising at colleges and universities are getting big budgets and setting new records these days. Declines in enrollment, made worse by the pandemic, and increasing competition from online providers and others are behind the burgeoning investments.

Photo: Win McNamee

During his back-to-school bus tour, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona spent time promoting college access, free community college, and in-person classes alongside local politicians and federal officials.

But Cardona turned serious when asked if hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of congressional aid and pandemic-spurred federal stimulus for schools could carry out the vision to reimagine public education after the pandemic exposed deeply entrenched inequities. He doesn't want educators to recycle old strategies.