SERVICE Act
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Strengthening Efforts for Relief and Vital Incentives for Community Service and Engagement Act or the SERVICE Act
This bill makes changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.
Under the current PSLF program, the Department of Education (ED) must cancel the balance of interest and principal due on a borrower's Federal Direct Loans after the borrower makes 120 monthly loan payments while employed in a public service job and, at the time of loan forgiveness, the borrower is employed in a public service job.
Among other changes to the PSLF program, this bill
reduces from 120 to 96 the number of monthly payments required for loan forgiveness;
expands qualifying monthly payments, deferments, and forbearances allowed under the PSLF program;
removes the requirement that a borrower must be employed in a public service job at the time of loan forgiveness;
establishes a reconsideration process for borrowers who have their initial PSLF application denied; and
prohibits interest capitalization on loans after deferment or forbearance.
The bill directs ED to (1) establish an online portal that provides borrowers with information on loans and the PSLF program, and (2) establish and regularly update a database listing public service jobs.
The bill allows an eligible teacher to use the same teaching service to qualify for both the Teacher Loan Forgiveness program and the PSLF program.
The Government Accountability Office must study and report on the feasibility of establishing data matching agreements for PSLF that allows borrowers to forgo requesting employment certification from their employer.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on April 10, 2025. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on April 10, 2025: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Joe Courtney (D-CT) introduced it on April 10, 2025, and 6 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 6 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on April 10, 2025, 518 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 518 days ago, on April 10, 2025.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 119th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2027 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers