Student Loan Literacy Project (SLLP)

Public service careers should not come with a financial penalty. Yet for the millions of Americans who choose government and nonprofit work, federal student loan debt, accruing interest faster than modest public sector salaries can repay it, too often forces an impossible choice between mission and financial stability. SLLP is a student-led research initiative developing a refinancing model that meets public sector borrowers where they are: offering lower rates and income-calibrated repayment structures designed for the earnings trajectories of early-career public servants.
SLLP acquires and refinances federal student loan debt held by public sector and nonprofit workers, replacing standard federal rates of 7%–9% with rates tied to inflation plus 1%, and offering income-driven repayment structures calibrated to public sector earnings. The result is a loan product that shrinks monthly payments from day one and enables borrowers to actually reduce their principal, something standard income-driven repayment plans often fail to do.