Federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness encourages students to enter low-paying professions including firefighting, teaching, public service, and nursing as well as jobs in public interest law, military service, and religious activity.
To qualify for tax-free forgiveness, you must make 120 payments over the course of 10 years while working for the government or a non-profit organization. By entering your employer and loan type(s) into the PSLF Help Tool on the federal student aid website, you can determine whether or not you are eligible for PSLF benefits.
The COVID-19 outbreak has necessitated certain short-term adjustments to Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
By entering your employer and loan type(s) into the PSLF Help Tool on the federal student aid website, you can determine whether or not you are eligible for PSLF benefits.
The COVID-19 outbreak has necessitated certain short-term adjustments to Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
A forbearance period of no payments is in effect through August 31, 2022 for all federal student loans.
Second, the Education Department has granted a waiver of some of the more onerous requirements for PSLF eligibility through October 2022.
A wider range of past federal loan payments will count toward PSLF qualification if you were working for a qualified employer at the time of the payments.
Forbearance on federal student loan payments
The automatic forbearance for federal student loan holders pursuing PSLF terminates on September 1, 2022. Those months of nonpayment will count toward the 120 payments required for PSLF as long as you’re still working full-time for an eligible employer.
You are only 29 months away from debt forgiveness if you haven’t made any payments since March 2020 and won’t make any until September 2022.
Limited waivers for applicants of the PSLF
Any federal loan payments made under the limited waiver count toward PSLF, regardless of the payment plan you have been on. Payouts made under specific repayment arrangements were formerly exempt from this rule.
In the past, payments that were not accepted because they were late counted toward the PSLF. In the case of FFEL and Perkins loans, payments made since 2007 will contribute toward PSLF. Previously, these loan installments were not taken into account while calculating PSLF.
Payments made prior to consolidating your non-direct loans will count toward PSLF if you did so before the restricted waiver period ended.Regardless of whether or not loan payments were suspended during active military service, members of the military will still be eligible for PSLF.
The Education Department has stated that it will evaluate previously rejected applications for PSLF. Borrowers who are eligible for forgiveness under PSLF but have not yet applied will also be contacted by the Treasury Department to ensure that they are informed of the interim rule adjustments. You can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau if your servicer isn’t helping you get the waiver relief you’re entitled to.
