June 1, 2022

Last fall, the Department of Education announced a change to Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program rules for a limited time.

Under the limited PSLF waiver, any prior period of repayment will count as a qualifying payment, regardless of loan program, repayment plan, or whether the payment was made in full or on time. However, you must have qualifying employment to receive public service loan forgiveness.

If you previously applied for PSLF and were denied because of your loan type, The U.S. Department of Education is encouraging those borrowers who work for an eligible employer to try again.

What you need to do to apply for forgiveness:

1. Verify your loan types in your aid summary on StudentAid.gov.
2. Verify eligible employment by completing Step 1 of the PSLF Help Tool.
3. If an employer is eligible or is "likely ineligible" (which means their eligibility is undetermined), but you believe the employer qualifies, and you have at least one loan that is not a Direct Loan, request a Direct Consolidation Loan by October 31, 2022.
4. Once your consolidation is complete, then use the PSLF Help Tool to generate a PSLF form to submit to the PSLF servicer by October 31, 2022.

More information about PSLF can be found online on this blog.