Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness

Through the Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness, also commonly referred to as the PSLF program, qualified applicants may be able to have a portion or all of their student loans forgiven. The PSLF Program forgives the remaining balance on your Direct Loans after you have made 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time for a qualifying employer. Read on to see eligibility requirements, award amounts, and the application process for the Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness.

Eligibility?

In order to be eligible for the Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness, you must meet the following criteria to be considered for this program:

How much can I expect to be awarded? 

Through the Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness program, you may have up to 100 percent of the remaining balance on your loans forgiven after 120 eligible payments.

For a full breakdown of this programs offering, head over to their website.

What loans are eligible for this program?

Through the Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness Program, the following loans will qualify:

• Direct Stafford loans
• Direct Consolidation loans
• Perkins and Parent PLUS loans are only eligible if you consolidate them into a Direct Consolidation loan and repay them under the standard or income-contingent repayment plan.

How do I apply for this repayment program? 

In order to apply for the Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness program, you will first need to verify if you have made 120 (10 years worth) qualifying payments.

If you have met this requirement, read on:

Because you have to make 120 qualifying monthly payments, it will be at least 10 years after you make your first qualifying payment before you can apply for PSLF. Since only payments made after Oct. 1, 2007, can be counted toward PSLF, the earliest that any borrower became eligible to apply for PSLF was fall 2017.

If you have made 120 qualifying payments, you should fill out and submit the PSLF application.

• You can use the PSLF Help Tool to assist you in starting the PSLF application that you will eventually print, complete, and submit. Find out where to submit your PSLF application.
• Or, you can download the PSLF application and complete all sections on your own before submitting it. Find out where to submit your PSLF application.

If you are working toward PSLF, you should complete and submit the Employment Certification for Public Service Loan Forgiveness form (Employment Certification Form) annually or when you change employers.

• You can use the PSLF Help Tool to assist you in starting the Employment Certification Form that you will eventually print, complete, and submit. Find out where to submit your Employment Certification Form.
• Or, you can download the Employment Certification Form and complete all sections on your own before submitting it. Find out where to submit your Employment Certification Form.

Either way, we’ll use the information you provide on the form to let you know if you are making qualifying PSLF payments. This will help you determine if you are on the right track as early as possible.

If you do not periodically submit the Employment Certification Form, then at the time you apply for forgiveness you will be required to submit an Employment Certification Form for each employer where you worked while making the required 120 qualifying monthly payments.

We will take the following actions after we receive your Employment Certification Form:

• We will review your Employment Certification Form to ensure that it is complete and to determine whether your loans and employment qualify for the PSLF Program.
• We will notify you if the form you submitted is incomplete or if we cannot determine, based on the information provided on the form, whether your employment qualifies. We may ask you to provide additional information or documentation to help us determine whether you were employed by a qualifying employer.
• If we determine that your employer is not a qualifying employer, we will notify you that your employment does not qualify. If you believe there is additional information that would establish the eligibility of your employer, you will have the opportunity to provide that information.
• If we determine that you do not have eligible loan types, we will notify you that your loans do not qualify.
• If we determine that your loans and employment qualify, we will notify you.
• If we determine that your employment qualifies, and if some or all of your federal student loans that are owned by the U.S. Department of Education are not already serviced by FedLoan Servicing, those loans will be transferred to FedLoan Servicing. You will receive a notice if your loans are transferred.
• If we determine that your employment qualifies, we will then review your payment history (including any payments you made to another federal loan servicer before your loans were transferred) to determine how many payments made during the period of employment certified on the Employment Certification Form are qualifying monthly payments for PSLF. We will then notify you of the total number of qualifying payments you have made, and how many payments you must still make before you can qualify for PSLF.

If you have more questions, you can head over to their questions and answers page here.

If your questions aren’t covered on that page, contact FedLoan Servicing at 1-855-265-4038.

Where can I check to see if I have made 120 qualifying payments?

After you submit an Employment Certification Form and your loans have been transferred to FedLoan Servicing (if FedLoan Servicing was not already your loan servicer), and after FedLoan Servicing has determined the number of qualifying payments that you have made during the period of qualifying employment in your Employment Certification Form, you will receive a letter telling you the number of qualifying payments you have made.

The number of qualifying payments you have made will be updated whenever you submit another Employment Certification Form that documents a new period of qualifying employment.

You can find out how many qualifying payments you’ve made by logging in to your account at FedLoan Servicing and viewing your loan details or by looking on your most recent billing statement.

Questions?

If you still have questions or would like to know more information please reach out to us here or you can go back to the Student Loan Repayment Assistance Programs page.