The Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program is a federal program that forgives the remaining balance on your eligible federal student loans after you have made 120 qualifying monthly payments. Qualifying for PSLF involves making the right kind of payments, on the right kind of loans, in the right kind of job. Once you’ve identified your employment and loan types, then you can request an evaluation from Fedloan Servicing to see if you would qualify for forgiveness.
Public Service Forgiveness Student Loan Program
The Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness Program is a federal program that forgives the remaining balance on your eligible federal student loans after you have made 120 qualifying monthly payments.
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program is a federal program that forgives the remaining balance on your eligible federal student loans after you have made 120 qualifying monthly payments. The program has been around since 2007 and was created to encourage individuals who want to serve their country through public service careers, such as teachers, law enforcement officers, firefighters and military members.
Although not all borrowers are eligible, there are many more people who qualify than you might think. Anyone who took out a direct loan from the U.S Department of Education can apply for this benefit regardless of whether they work in a government or non-profit job or any other type of service work that qualifies under certain conditions according to their employer’s mission statement (which can be found on their website).
The savings for students who take advantage of this option could be substantial as most private lenders require amortization plans over 10 years – or even longer – meaning it will take at least that long before you see any significant progress being made toward paying off your debt load! One drawback however is that once you sign up for an income-driven repayment plan through either FedLoan Servicing OR Great Lakes Educational Loan Services (GLES), there’s no going back: if anything changes and/or doesn’t pan out like we hoped it would then these companies may refuse our request without giving us any further options besides paying back everything immediately!”
Qualifying for PSLF involves making the right kind of payments, on the right kind of loans, in the right kind of job.
The PSLF program is designed to reward those who work in public service jobs. But it’s not as simple as working for a government agency or nonprofit organization and then being forgiven for your student loans. You have to make the right kind of payments, on the right kind of loans, in the right kind of job.
To qualify for PSLF, you’ll need to:
- Make 120 qualifying monthly payments (10 years’ worth) while working full-time in a qualifying public service job at an eligible employer.
- Make those payments under an income-driven repayment plan like Income Based Repayment or Pay As You Earn that offers loan forgiveness after 10 years (120 payments).
Eligible Loans
There are many types of loans that qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness:
- Direct Loans—which include Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) and Perkins Loans.
- Federal Perkins Loans—a specific type of loan offered by schools to help students with exceptional financial need.
- NSLDS/School Certification Process
If you think your loan is eligible for forgiveness, you’ll need to verify with your school that it qualifies and that it may be possible for them to certify them through the appropriate channels. If you have questions about the eligibility of your loans or how to go about getting certified, contact your school directly before contacting us at [email protected]
You meet the employment requirements if you’re paid by one of these employers during your qualifying repayment period.
You must meet the following requirements to qualify for Public Service Forgiveness:
- You must be employed full-time by a qualifying public service organization.
- You must be employed by a qualifying public service organization for the full 120 required payments.
- Each payment you make while working with your employer qualifies as a “qualifying repayment” toward your PSLF eligibility, unless you’ve chosen an alternative repayment plan in which case it will not count as such (see below).
Once you’ve identified your employment and loan types, then you can request an evaluation from Fedloan Servicing to see if you would qualify for forgiveness.
If you would like to request an evaluation from Fedloan Servicing, contact the student loan servicer directly. They will work with you to determine if you are eligible for forgiveness under this program. You can request an evaluation at any time—even if you haven’t yet made 120 qualifying monthly payments or made a single qualifying monthly payment.
The PSLF Program is intended for teachers who have worked full-time as public school teachers in low-income schools, and other public service employees who work in eligible jobs serving low-income communities. To find out more about whether your job qualifies as public service employment, contact Fedloan Servicing at 800-749-5086 (TDD/TTY: 800-829-4059).
You may be eligible for forgiveness if you paid Social Security taxes and received benefits based on your own earnings record, you are receiving Social Security disability benefits, or if you are the survivor of a family member who died while working.
You may be eligible for forgiveness if you paid Social Security taxes and received benefits based on your own earnings record, you are receiving Social Security disability benefits, or if you are the survivor of a family member who died while working.
Income-driven repayment plans cap your monthly payments at 10% of discretionary income (income above 150% FPL). If you have a high debt burden relative to your income, this could result in having no remaining student loan balance after 25 years of payments. This isn’t an offer from the federal government; it just means that if your outstanding loans qualify under the PSLF program and all other requirements are met, then they will be forgiven after 25 years of qualifying payments.
If income-based repayment plan isn’t right for you because it doesn’t save enough money each month relative to standard repayment plans, then consider switching over to another type of repayment plan like Income-Contingent Repayment Plan or Revised Pay As You Earn Program that allows you more flexibility with making payments on time every month without any penalties.
For those considering public service jobs and applying to schools with expensive tuition, it’s important to understand how this program works.
The program requires that you make 120 qualifying payments on the right kind of loan, in a public service job, while working for an eligible employer. You must also make your payments on time.
To be eligible for this program, you must have loans that were made:
- Before October 1st 2007
- After October 1st 2007 as long as they are federal direct loans or Federal Stafford Loans (subsidized or unsubsidized)
If you have Perkins loans, consolidation loans (Direct Consolidation Loan), or FFEL Program Loans (Federal Family Education Loan) then you are not eligible for Public Service Forgiveness. However if these types of loans were consolidated into another type of federal student loan after October 1st 2007 then they may still be eligible under certain conditions.
Closing
Public Service Forgiveness is a program that allows certain federal student loans to be forgiven after 120 monthly payments. This can be beneficial for those who want to make a difference in their communities by working as teachers, social workers, or other types of public servants.