About the Public Loan Service Forgiveness Waiver

In 2007 Congress created the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) with the well-intentioned promise that anyone could get their debt erased if they worked for a nonprofit or government agency for a total of 10 years.

The key to PSLF has always been to make 120 “qualifying payments” on your loan while working in public service. From 2007 to 2021 only 16,000 borrowers actually had their loans forgiven - barely 0.1% of eligible Americans. In particular, if borrowers didn’t get all their paperwork exactly right on the very first day of their public service job, their time in service didn’t count. A teacher who didn’t get the paperwork until after working 9 years was given zero years of public service credit.

Because the COVID crisis was declared a national emergency, the US Department of Education was able to make temporary adjustments to the PSLF program without getting Congress’ approval. The PSLF Waiver was born.

NOTE: In August the government announced its intent to make other adjustments and fixes to the student loan system, including a blanket forgiveness of up to $20,000 per borrower. These plans have not been finalized and there are already lawsuits. The PSLF Waiver remains the most certain path to loan forgiveness for most government and nonprofit workers - and the rules and deadlines for PSLF have not changed.

We finally have the loan forgiveness program we were promised - but only until October 31, 2022, one year after the Waiver was implemented.

Visit StudentAid.gov

Although the PSLF Help Tool is the best place for most borrowers to start, the best place to learn more detail is on the government’s website: https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/pslf-limited-waiver.

But important elements currently include:

  • No requirement for continuous service - any 10 years of service in any combination can count.

  • No income limit

  • No maximum amount of debt

  • No requirement to have graduated from the higher education program or even to have passed any classes

  • More federal loan types qualify for forgiveness

  • Past periods of repayment will now count whether or not you made a payment, made that payment on time, for the full amount due, or on a qualifying repayment plan.

In other words - the program is totally different from the original version, and it’s pretty good! If you have even the slightest hope that you might qualify, check your eligibility immediately by using the Help Tool at StudentAid.gov/PSLF.

The catch?

The PSLF Waiver is scheduled to expire October 31, 2022.

After that, who knows? Borrowers are only guaranteed benefits if they file their application prior to the October deadline.

Visit StudentAid.gov/PSLF today!

Or click one of the buttons below to learn more about the PSLF application process: