Public Sector Loan Forgiveness

In the summer of 2022, Pythia teamed up with PSLF.nyc, a “pop-up” nonprofit, to raise awareness about changes to the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) that made hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers eligible for total student debt relief.  But it came with the caveat that they had to apply before the October 31 deadline.  Amid an unforgiving news cycle that was focused on elections, coupled with the attention being given to the new but separate student debt relief plan launched by the Biden Administration, confusion was rampant. To break through the clutter, a concerted and targeted approach to earned media secured pivotal placements in influential local outlets such as WNYC, NY1, the New York Daily News, Politico, LinkedIn and The Chief, a 125-year-old publication read by union members and civil servants throughout City government. Conservative estimates suggest these efforts contributed to 75,000 New Yorkers achieving average loan forgiveness of more than $60,000 each — totaling more than $4.6 billion back in the pockets of low- to middle-class families coping with increased costs of everything from groceries and fuel to childcare and housing.