Public Service Loan Forgiveness

2. Review Loan Eligibility

Only certain loans qualify for PSLF/TEPSLF. If your loans don't qualify, consolidation may make them eligible.

Eligible Loan Types

The following loan types are eligible:

• Direct Subsidized Loans

• Direct Unsubsidized Loans (including TEACH Grants that were converted to Direct Unsubsidized Loans)

• Direct PLUS Loans for graduate or professional students

• Direct Consolidation Loans

If you do not know what type of federal loans you have, visit StudentAid.gov and find out.

Non-eligible Loans & Consolidation

If your loan type isn't listed above, you can consolidate your non-eligible federal student loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan to make them eligible for PSLF/TEPSLF. Consolidating can make your loans eligible as long as you meet all other program requirements.

LEARN MORE ABOUT CONSOLIDATION

Have you already made qualifying payments on your Direct Loans?

As part of the payment count adjustment toward IDR and PSLF programs, the Department of Education (ED) will allow qualifying payments from all loans included in a Direct Consolidation Loan, including Direct, FFEL Program, and Perkins loans, to contribute toward the qualifying payment count on the newly disbursed Direct Consolidation Loan. The payment count adjustment will not use a weighted average. Visit the payment count adjustment page at StudentAid.gov for more information.

Note: If you recently consolidated your loans, your payment counters may temporarily reset to zero as of your consolidation date. Don’t worry, as your payment counters will be adjusted as updates are made to your account, including the IDR one-time payment count adjustment.

If you consolidate your loans after the payment count adjustment period ends, the qualifying payments made on the Direct Loans (other loan types will not be considered) included in your consolidation loan will be credited to your consolidation loan using a weighted average of those payments. Borrowers are strongly encouraged to certify all their qualifying employment applicable to the loans before they are consolidated to ensure that weighted average is correctly applied.

For example, a borrower with 60 qualifying payments on a Direct Loan with a balance of $30,000, who consolidates their loan with another Direct Loan with a balance of $30,000 with zero qualifying payments, will have a new qualifying payment count of 30 payments credited to the new consolidation loan. Visit StudentAid.gov for more information regarding PSLF rules and regulations.

3. Check Your Repayment Plan

Only certain repayment plans qualify for PSLF. To get the most benefit from the program, you should switch to an Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan if you're not already on one.

To benefit from PSLF, you should consider one of the following IDR plans, which generally base your loan payments on your income, family size, and loan debt.

The IDR plans are:

• Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE, Formerly the REPAYE Program)

• Pay As You Earn (PAYE)

• Income-Based Repayment (IBR)

• Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR)

If you do not know what repayment plan you are on for your Direct Loans, visit StudentAid.gov and find out.

Is PSLF and an IDR plan right for me?

IDR plans provide a lower monthly payment amount for borrowers who have high student loan debt relative to their income. However, in some cases an IDR plan might give you a higher monthly payment than you want to pay, and your monthly payment might be lower under a traditional repayment plan. In that case, PSLF may not be right for you.

What about the 10-Year Standard Repayment plan?

Although the 10-year Standard Repayment plan is eligible, if you were to stay on this plan, your loans would be paid in full by the time you made all 120 qualifying payments. If you are seeking PSLF and you are currently on the Standard Repayment plan, you should switch to an IDR plan as soon as possible.

What if I am not on an IDR plan?

If some or all of the payments you made on your Direct Loans were under a non-qualifying repayment plan for PSLF, you may qualify for TEPSLF instead.

Qualifying repayment plans for TEPSLF include the qualifying repayment plans for PSLF, as well as the Graduated Repayment Plan, Extended Repayment Plan, Standard Repayment Plan for Direct Consolidation Loans, and Graduated Repayment Plan for Direct Consolidation Loans.

Do you have a Direct PLUS Loan?

Direct PLUS Loans for parents are not eligible for IDR plans that allow borrowers to benefit from the PSLF program. Therefore, you should consider consolidating your Direct PLUS Loans for parents into a Direct Consolidation Loan. Once consolidated, the new Direct Consolidation Loan can then be repaid under the ICR plan, which is a qualifying repayment plan for PSLF. The ICR plan is the only available IDR plan for a Direct Consolidation Loan that includes a PLUS Loan made to a parent borrower.

4. Confirm Your Qualifying Payments

To receive confirmation that your loans, employment, and payments qualify for PSLF, you must submit a PSLF form.

Submit Your First PSLF Form

The PSLF form is a form both you and your employer must complete for us to verify that your loan payments were eligible and that you made the payments during periods of qualifying employment. We recommend you submit your first PSLF form after you are confident you:

• Have qualifying loans

• Work at least 30 hours per week on average for a qualifying employer.

• Have made some qualifying payments

Once your qualifying employment is approved, we will begin tracking your progress towards completing the 120 qualifying payments each time you submit a new PSLF form. All PSLF forms will be reviewed for eligibility under both the PSLF/TEPSLF programs.

We recommend that you submit a PSLF form annually. This will help you track your progress in the PSLF/TEPSLF program, and ensure that any repayment or employment missteps are caught sooner rather than later.

Complete your PSLF Form Online

The Department of Education created the PSLF Help Tool to walk you through completing the PSLF form.

5. Make Qualifying Payments

You must be actively paying on your loans.

Qualifying Payments

To receive loan forgiveness under PSLF, you must make 120 qualifying payments. All payments must be made:

• After October 1, 2007

• Under a qualifying repayment plan

• For the full amount due as shown on your bill

• While you are employed full-time at a qualifying employer

Payments are only considered qualifying during periods when you are required to make a payment. Therefore, payments made during the following loan statuses are not considered qualifying.

• In School

• In Grace

• Deferment

• Forbearance*

• Default

* Payments covered by the COVID-19 suspension of payments will be considered qualifying with approved certified employment.

What payments qualify for TEPSLF?

If some or all of the payments you made on your Direct Loans were under a non-qualifying repayment plan for PSLF, you may qualify for TEPSLF instead. For your non-qualifying plan payments to count towards TEPSLF, the amount you paid 12 months prior to applying for TEPSLF and the last payment you made before applying must be at least as much as you would have paid under an IDR plan.

Prepayments

You may prepay your loans (make lump sum payments) and have those payments count towards forgiveness. Each prepayment will only count for up to 12 qualifying payments. In order for the prepayment to qualify for subsequent months you must:

• Pay an amount to fully satisfy future billed amounts for each month you wish to prepay

• Make one or more prepayments that pay your loan ahead, but if you are on an Income Driven Repayment (IDR) plan, you may not prepay past your next annual recertification date. Your annual recertification period is the 12 month time period when your payments are based on your income

• Have qualifying employment that covers the due date for each month you prepay

• Multiple prepayments made within the same year will not afford you more than 12 months of qualifying payments

Eligible payments vs. qualifying payments

A payment period is tracked as eligible when your payment meets all of the following payment eligibility requirements:

• Your payment is made under a qualifying repayment plan

• For the full amount due as shown on your bill

An eligible payment becomes a qualifying payment when you certify your employment and all or part of your employment period is approved. Eligible payment periods that correspond to approved employment periods are tracked as qualifying. These payments count toward the 120 required for loan forgiveness.

6. Track Your Payments

Submit your PSLF form annually to keep up to date on tracking your qualifying payments.

Submit Your PSLF Form Annually

Because you have to make 120 qualifying monthly payments, it will take at least 10 years for you to become eligible for PSLF/TEPSLF. We recommend that you submit a new PSLF form annually. This will help you track your progress in the program. Each time we approve qualifying employment, we will update your count of qualifying payments.

Track Your Payments

If you want to see your payments progress in the program, you can find this number by signing in to Account Access.

Example:

How are eligible payments and qualifying payments different? Find out how!

7. Submit Your PSLF Form for Forgiveness

Once you have made your 120th payment, submit a PSLF form to count your qualifying payments and apply for forgiveness.

After we receive your PSLF form, your loans will be reviewed for eligibility for forgiveness. If it appears you are eligible for PSLF/TEPSLF, your employer may be contacted before granting loan forgiveness. Additionally, the amount to be forgiven will be the principal and interest that was due on your eligible loan.

While your loans are being reviewed for loan forgiveness you have two options:

1. Continue making your monthly payments while your account is being reviewed for forgiveness. If your form is approved any payments made after your final 120th qualifying payment will be refunded.

2. Apply for a forbearance to postpone payments while your account is being reviewed for forgiveness.