Major Temporary Changes to Public Service Loan Forgiveness Eligibility
Were you rejected for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)? Told your federal student loans weren’t eligible? Surprised to hear that your payments didn’t count? That all could be about to change.
Under an executive order issued in October 2021 by the White House, an overhaul of the troubled PSLF program could put nearly 550,000 borrowers two years closer to total and complete loan forgiveness. More than 22,000 borrowers may already be eligible for immediate forgiveness, according to the federal Dept. of Education.
For a limited period of time, borrowers may receive credit for past payments made on loans that would otherwise not qualify for PSLF. Eligible borrowers only have until Oct. 31, 2022, however, to claim any past payments for the 120 needed toward forgiveness. You must have worked full-time for a qualifying employer when prior payments were made. You can review your employer’s eligibility by completing Step 1 on the PSLF Help Tool.
New guidelines will extend PSLF eligibility to include:
- Payments made on federal Direct Loans AND Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans issued before 2010
- Payments made under any repayment plan, including non-income driven repayment plans
- Payments made prior to Direct Loan consolidation
- And military deferments, even if no payments were made
In addition, the Department plans to audit all rejected PSLF payments and adjust payment counts accordingly.
Borrowers trying to claim qualifying payments may need to apply for PSLF and consolidate any existing FFELP loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan. Stay tuned, as more instructions will be released in the coming weeks. Please make sure to bookmark the following information as updates will be posted here: https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/pslf-limited-waiver.