HEROES Act: Volunteer Firefighters and EMTs Can Now Count Service Toward Student Loan Forgiveness

The new Helping Emergency Responders Overcome Student Debt Act, or the HEROES Act, aims to ease the financial burden on volunteer first responders who often put their lives on hold—and sometimes on the line—for their communities. Simply put, this bill expands eligibility for federal student loan forgiveness programs to include time spent as a volunteer firefighter or a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).

The Fine Print: Who Qualifies and Who Doesn’t

Before you call your loan servicer, there are a few important rules. This bill amends Section 455(m)(3) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which deals with loan forgiveness. To qualify, you must be a “qualified volunteer firefighter” or “qualified volunteer EMT” serving a recognized fire department or public safety organization. The catch? You cannot be a full-time employee of the same organization where you are volunteering (Sec. 2). This means if you’re a paid EMT during the day and volunteer for the same squad on weekends, that volunteer time won't count under this program.

Trading Hours for Dollars: Defining 'Full-Time' Volunteerism

This is where the rubber meets the road—and where the details get a bit fuzzy for now. The entire program hinges on the Secretary of Education defining the minimum amount of volunteer time required to be treated as if you were working a full-time job (Sec. 2). They have to set a specific number of hours that equals “full-time service.” For instance, will 20 hours a week count? 30? The only statutory guidance is that this minimum time cannot be less than what the organization itself requires for you to be considered an “active member.” The Secretary is required to consult with public safety groups and publish these crucial regulations before the program can actually launch (Sec. 3).

For a volunteer EMT with $40,000 in student debt, this could be a massive win. If they meet the yet-to-be-defined hourly threshold, their years of service fighting fires or running ambulance calls could suddenly count toward the required service time for loan forgiveness, offering significant financial relief and making it easier to stay in the community.

The Verification Headache

Another major task assigned to the Department of Education is creating a system to track and verify these volunteer hours. Since there’s no paycheck or standard HR system involved, the Secretary must establish a clear, verifiable process to ensure that volunteers claiming the benefit actually put in the required time (Sec. 3). This is important because it prevents abuse, but it also means the Department has a significant administrative lift ahead of it to create a reliable tracking mechanism for thousands of local, state, and tribal organizations.

Ultimately, the HEROES Act is a clear benefit to dedicated volunteers, acknowledging their critical service by offering a path to student debt relief. The success of the program now rests entirely on the upcoming regulations: how the Secretary defines those “full-time” volunteer hours and how robustly they implement the required tracking system.