Congress expands student debt relief to volunteer firefighters and EMTs
H.R. 3146 — HEROES Act · Filed by Dan Goldman (D-NY) · 4 cosponsors · Introduced May 1, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill expands the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program to include volunteer firefighters and volunteer emergency medical technicians (EMTs) as eligible for federal student loan forgiveness, provided they meet minimum volunteer-hour thresholds set by the Secretary of Education. Volunteer first responders who are not full-time employees of the same organization they serve would become eligible for the same loan-forgiveness benefits currently available to full-time public servants.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is to add a category of public servants (volunteer first responders) to an existing federal loan-forgiveness program. It is a straightforward eligibility expansion with no hidden riders or deregulatory intent.
What the text implies
- The Secretary of Education must define 'minimum volunteer time' in regulations; if set too low, the program could become administratively burdensome; if set too high, it may defeat the bill's purpose by excluding part-time volunteers.
- Verification of volunteer hours across thousands of fire departments and ambulance services (many small, rural, or nonprofit) may create compliance and tracking challenges; the bill requires the Secretary to establish a verification process but does not fund it.
The full analysis lists 3 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians (individuals, not corporations)