Durbin, Hirono, Padilla, Wyden And Booker Introduce Adjunct Faculty Loan Fairness Act To Expand Public Service Loan Forgiveness To Adjunct Professors
Nationally, 47 percent of instructional higher education faculty work on a part-time, contingent basis, often facing low pay with little or no benefits or job security
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) today reintroduced the Adjunct Faculty Loan Fairness Act of 2025 to allow part-time faculty at colleges and universities – who are often have high student debt loads and are paid low wages with few benefits – to be eligible to participate in the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.
The Adjunct Faculty Loan Fairness Act of 2025 enables faculty working part-time to participate in the PSLF program and provides much-needed student loan debt relief. The bill adjusts the current requirement that loan payments be made during full-time employment in a public service position to include payments made while teaching nine credit hours per semester at one or more eligible institutions. By expanding the definition of a public service job to include teaching nine credit hours at a qualifying institution, the Adjunct Faculty Loan Fairness Act of 2025 would make it easier for adjunct faculty to qualify for the federal PSLF program.
“Adjunct professors spend hours, in and out of the classroom, ensuring that students get the best education possible. Despite their dedication, they aren’t eligible for the same benefits as their full-time colleagues,” said Durbin. “And while the Trump Administration aims to restrict the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program further, I believe we should acknowledge the public service of adjunct professors and offer them the student debt relief they deserve. The Adjunct Faculty Loan Fairness Act of 2025 makes a simple change, expanding the program for part-time faculty, that would have a profound impact on educators.”
Although adjunct professors serve an invaluable role, they often face low pay, few benefits, and job instability. Most have advanced degrees. According to data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, the average loan balance in 2020 for students who completed an advanced degree was $70,000. Adjunct faculty are paid just $2,000 to $3,000 per class, making an average annual income that hovers around minimum wage. Only 20 percent of adjunct faculty said they are able to comfortably cover basic expenses. Many times, adjunct faculty piece together hours to reach a full course load by teaching at more than one school in the same semester. In most cases, adjunct faculty are paid only for time spent teaching, not time spent preparing for class or meeting with students. This means an adjunct professor may work up to 66 hours per week—teaching and preparing for courses at multiple institutions—but is only compensated for 26 hours of work.
Under current law, a public service job is defined as full-time work, or a minimum weekly average of 30 hours on an annual basis, as verified by the public service employer. It may be difficult or even impossible for the many thousands of adjunct faculty who work at several schools on a contingent basis to meet the 30 hour minimum requirement due to the method full-time work is calculated. As such, these instructors, despite often working more than 30 hours, are effectively barred from participating in PSLF. The Adjunct Faculty Loan Fairness Act of 2025 would expand PSLF to include part-time faculty in the loan forgiveness program by calculating eligibility on a per credit hour basis.
PSLF is designed to encourage graduates to pursue a career in public service by offering loan forgiveness after 10 years of full-time work in government or the non-profit sector. However, in March 2025, President Trump issued an executive order to limit PSLF eligibility so that borrowers who work for organizations that do not serve President Trump’s partisan agenda, such as immigration advocacy groups and employers who promote diversity, would be ineligible for the PSLF program. The President’s move weaponizes and distorts the PSLF program.
The bill is supported by the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, American Association of University Professors, and Service Employees International Union.
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