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PSLF Waiver

Do you have federal student loans? Have you worked in public service (for a government agency, the military, or a non-profit organization)? If so, find out whether you’re eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Limited Waiver, which expires on October 31, 2022. Thousands of federal student loan borrowers have used the waiver to get closer to total loan forgiveness.   

The PSLF waiver might work for you if you have:

  • Federal Direct Loans — or can consolidate other types of federal student loans like FFEL or Perkins into a Direct Loan by October 31, and
  • Work history with qualifying public service employers.

For a limited time, the waiver gives you credit for repayment periods that previously wouldn’t have counted — times when you didn’t make a payment, didn’t make it on time, didn’t pay the full amount due, or weren’t on a qualifying repayment plan.

With the average borrower getting a year’s worth of credit with the waiver, now’s the time find out if the PSLF waiver could work for you. Before October 31, 2022:

  1. Log into your Federal Student Aid account. Use your Federal Student Aid ID to access Studentaid.gov and complete the PSLF Limited Waiver requirements.
  2. Submit the PSLF form. Use the PSLF Help Tool to verify current and past employment that you want credit for and submit the PSLF form.
  3. Confirm (or consolidate into) Direct Loans. The waiver only applies to Direct Loans, so consolidate your existing federal loans by October 31, 2022. It’s free through studentaid.gov. Unsure what types of loans you have? View your FSA Aid Summary.

Always contact Federal Student Aid or your loan servicer with questions about loan repayment. And if a company says they can help you sign up for PSLF or any student loan forgiveness program for an advanced fee, it’s a scam! Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

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Holly Merz
August 26, 2022

Many of these news articles do not address the problem with the PSLF waiver and Parent Plus Loans. If you work in public service, and have your own loans and parent plus loans you can consolidate those loans and the PSLF waiver will be applied and you will get loan forgiveness after making 120 payments
However if you are in public service and took out parent plus loans only, and do not have a personal loan for your own education, or previously consolidated your loans you are not eligible for the PSLF waiver, regardless of number of years of years you worked in public service, or how many payments you have made. So, some parent plus loans are eligible for the PSLF waiver, and others or not even though both borrowers have made over 120 payments and worked in public service during the time those payments were made. There are a number of bills pending that are addressing this unfairness, and I hope those bills get the support needed to make all parent plus loans, not just some eligible for the PSLF waiver for borrowers who have devoted their lives to public service.

Jenn
August 26, 2022

I was under the impression, or perhaps had just heard from somewhere else, so I can't say this is 100% accurate, that if you had been unemployed or had been working as a home caregiver for a loved one, not receiving payment, that you could file for a student loan forgiveness. Did I just hear that wrong or is there somewhere that one can ask for a student loan forgiveness, if you were not working in government or non-profit? Something besides under the rule that the school did something wrong, which mine did not, it is just a matter of a loved one needing my help and not being able to afford or be able to stay at home were I not here. Just thought it was worth the ask. Thanks