H.R. 4893 — National Guard and Reserve Student Loan Fairness Act

This section establishes a special rule under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program—under which the Secretary of Education forgives the remaining balance on a borrower's Direct Loans after 120 qualifying monthly payments made while employed full-time by a qualifying public service employer—for borrowers who are members of reserve components of the Armed Forces. (1) For a full year of covered service (i.e., credited at least 80 points toward retired pay eligibility under 10 U.S.C. 12732(a)(2)), the Secretary deems each month in such year a qualifying PSLF payment if the borrower made a corresponding monthly payment on an eligible Direct Loan that met PSLF requirements or would have if the borrower had been employed full-time in public service at the time; (2) for a partial year of covered service (i.e., credited at least 50 but less than 80 points), the Secretary deems up to six months in such year qualifying payments under the same payment conditions. Not later than one year after enactment and annually thereafter, the Secretaries of Defense and Education must complete a data-matching process to identify qualifying individuals, certify their covered service, and count their qualifying payments without further action required from the borrower. (Thus, reservists can count service-related months toward the 120 payments needed for PSLF forgiveness even if not employed in public service jobs.)