To direct the Secretary of Education to deem each month for which certain Federal student loans are in deferment during a period of active duty service as months counted toward public service loan forgiveness, and for other purposes.

This bill (HR 9517) ensures that military service members and Department of Defense civilians who had student loans in deferment during active duty service have those months counted toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). It amends the Higher Education Act to automatically include months of deferment under active duty as qualifying payments for PSLF, without requiring additional action from borrowers. The bill also requires the Departments of Defense and Education to jointly identify eligible individuals through data matching and certify their service periods for PSLF eligibility. This directly affects active-duty service members and civilian personnel who served over 30 consecutive days on or after October 1, 2007.