>   Advocacy   >   Policy Issues   >   Blueprint of Public Policy Priorities for the 119th Congress   >   Safeguarding Student Loan Debt Relief

Safeguarding Student Loan Debt Relief

Blueprint of Public Policy Priorities for the 119th Congress, 2025-2026

Decorative Blue Bar

Priority:

  • Make college and graduate school affordable for students entering social work to promote a vibrant, diverse, financially secure social work workforce

Legislation:

  • Mental Health Professionals Workforce Shortage Loan Repayment Act

Goal:

  • Maintain and enhance programs that provide student loan debt relief for social workers

Background:

According to the Council on Social Work Education, over 71% of baccalaureate graduates and over 76% of master’s graduates have loan debt. In 2020, the average loan debt amount for Masters’s level graduates was $47,965, compared to $32,198 in 2010. On average, baccalaureate graduates had $26,593 in loan debt in 2021–2022, compared to $24,683 in 2010. A social worker’s median salary is only $58,380.

And yet the need for mental health services continues to increase, with an estimated 122 million Americans now living in areas with a shortage of mental health professionals. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) estimates that by 2037, there will be a shortage of over 400,000 behavioral health professionals.

The Mental Health Professionals Workforce Shortage Loan Repayment Act would help address this workforce shortage by expanding the Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery Loan Repayment Program. Specifically, the bill would repay up to $250,000 in eligible student loan repayment for mental health professionals who work in mental health professional shortage areas, and for each year of service provided by such a mental health professional, repay one-sixth of the individual’s eligible loans.

At the same time, many social workers work in government agencies or not-for-profit organizations. For these social workers, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program—established through bipartisan legislation in 2007—has provided critical support. As of October 2024, over 1 million public service workers, including social workers, had received student loan debt forgiveness through PSLF, thanks to advocacy from organizations like NASW and its coalition partners. Similarly, the National Health Service Corps provides licensed clinical social workers up to $50,000 for student loan repayment in exchange for two years of serving in a community-based site in a high-need designated Health Professional Shortage Area.

Recommendation:

Given the importance of these programs, NASW encourages policymakers to:

  1. Reintroduce and pass the Mental Health Professionals Workforce Shortage Loan Repayment Act and protect and preserve the PSLF and NHSC programs.