Question 1

Are there any options for those who have private loans? What if they refinanced their federal student loans with a private lender?

Accepted Answer

Unfortunately not at this time. The PSLF Waiver is only available to federal student loan borrowers with Direct Loans; if you have a privately-held FFEL Loan or a Perkins Loan (usually held by your university), you can consolidate those into Direct Consolidation Loans for the PSLF Waiver.

Question 2

If I am a cosigner and work in public service, can I have my cosigned loans forgiven through PSLF?

Accepted Answer

Unfortunately not. The PSLF Program only applies to federal student loans.

Question 3

Are Parent PLUS Loans eligible for PSLF?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Parent PLUS Loans are an eligible loan type for PSLF. However, they do not qualify for the IDR plans that are generally required to accrue qualifying payments toward PSLF. A Parent PLUS Loan borrower can consolidate their loan, and the new Direct Consolidation Loan will have access to the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan, a type of IDR plan, which will qualify for PSLF.

However, as a result of the April 2022 announcement about a one-time IDR account adjustment, all loans, including Parent PLUS Loans, will receive IDR credit for any month that the loan was been in repayment, as well as for any month in forbearance for periods of 12 months or more of consecutive forbearances or 36 months of cumulative forbearance. This adjusted IDR credit will count toward PSLF. Parent PLUS Loan borrowers who receive 120 or more IDR credits for periods during which they also had qualifying employment will be eligible for loan forgiveness.

Question 4

Does the limited PSLF waiver work for Parent PLUS Loans?

Accepted Answer

Parent PLUS loans do not directly benefit from the waiver. However, if a Parent PLUS loan borrower also has a federal student loan that they took out for their own education, they can consolidate the two (or more) loans together. The new Direct Consolidation Loan will benefit from the waiver, even though there are Parent PLUS loan dollars underpinning it. The new loan will have as much credit toward loan forgiveness as the underlying non-Parent PLUS loan that was consolidated.

However, as a result of the April 2022 announcement about a one-time IDR account adjustment, all loans, including Parent PLUS Loans, will receive IDR credit for any month that the loan was been in repayment, as well as for any month in forbearance for periods of 12 months or more of consecutive forbearances or 36 months of cumulative forbearance. This adjusted IDR credit will count toward PSLF. Parent PLUS Loan borrowers who receive 120 or more IDR credits for periods during which they also had qualifying employment will be eligible for loan forgiveness.

Question 5

If I previously consolidated Parent PLUS Loans with my other federal student loans, are my consolidated loans eligible for the limited PSLF waiver?

Accepted Answer

Yes, the consolidated loan is eligible for the waiver and will receive as much credit toward PSLF as the non-Parent PLUS Loan was consolidated with the Parent PLUS Loan.

Question 6

Does the waiver change any of the rules about which IDR plans I can access with my consolidated Parent PLUS Loans?

Accepted Answer

No. The waiver does not change anything specific to Parent PLUS Loans, including which plans they can access. To access an IDR plan, Parent PLUS Loan borrowers must consolidate their loan.

Question 7

Is there anything that Parent PLUS Loan borrowers should do now to make sure they benefit from the limited PSLF waiver? What about the IDR adjustment?

Accepted Answer

Aside from consolidating a Parent PLUS Loan with a non-Parent PLUS federal student loan, there is nothing a borrower can do to benefit from the waiver for their Parent PLUS Loan.

However, through the IDR account adjustment, Parent PLUS Loan borrowers will automatically receive IDR credits on their account for past time in repayment, no matter what plan they were enrolled in, and for certain periods of deferment and forbearance.

These credits will count as qualifying payments under PSLF, and will count as credit toward the 120 credits needed for cancellation if they correspond with periods of qualifying public service employment.

For Parent PLUS Loan borrowers who have over 10 years of repayment history and public service work, the IDR account adjustment therefore may result in the 120 credits required for PSLF loan forgiveness. For other borrowers, it will result in fewer than 120. For these borrowers, they will need to continue to either make payments under the Standard 10-year repayment plan or an IDR plan to continue accruing credits.

To access IDR, Parent PLUS Loan borrowers must consolidate their loans. However, it is not clear at this time whether, upon consolidating, these borrowers can count past work toward the cancellation of their new loan. This answer will be updated once more information is available.

Frequently Asked Questions

General FAQs

Who can benefit from Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)?

Can I apply for the PSLF Waiver if I don’t have ten years of public service work yet?

Is PSLF different from President Biden’s Student Loan Relief?

What if I can’t get the employer signatures in time to file by the October 31, 2022 deadline for the PSLF Waiver?

How do I apply for the Biden Student Debt Relief?

If I work in public service but the loans are in my spouse’s or child’s name, or if the loans are in my name and my spouse or child works in public service, are these loans eligible for PSLF?

Does the U.S. Department of Education provide any information about PSLF?

Is there an income cap for who can benefit from PSLF?

How much of my debt will be forgiven under PSLF? Is there a cap?

I’ve heard/seen references to “ECF” with PSLF. What is that?

How does PSLF relate to other federal or state loan forgiveness programs?

Do I have to “apply” to start getting credit? Have I missed the chance to get credit for past work?

Is this a permanent program or will it end?

How does PSLF count time toward forgiveness if I took out loans at different times?

Is loan forgiveness under PSLF considered taxable income?

Does the public service and qualifying payments have to be consecutive to count?

Employment Certification FAQs

How do I complete the paperwork to certify my employment for PSLF?

Can I submit an electronic signature?

What can I do if I am unable to get my old employers to sign my employment certification papers?

How often do I need to certify my employment?

If I work for a government agency, is the agency my employer for PSLF, is the general government, e.g., the state or the city, my employer?

Who from my employer can sign my PSLF paperwork?

If I previously submitted paperwork to certify employment and it was denied, should I try again? Can I use the same forms or do I need to get new forms signed?

If I think I was denied credit toward PSLF–either because my payments weren’t counted or because my employer was considered ineligible–can I appeal?

How long does it take to hear back once I submit my paperwork?

How can I confirm what past employment I have already certified and the outcome of that certification?

FAQs About Qualifying Loans

What loan types are eligible for forgiveness under PSLF?

Does PSLF work for both undergraduate and graduate school debt?

FAQs About Qualifying Employment

I work as a temp or a contractor at a government or non-profit employer. Does this qualify me for PSLF?

If my employer is a for-profit company, can I qualify for PSLF?

What types of non-profit companies qualify for PSLF?

Does working for a Public Charter school qualify for PSLF?

Does working for a private college or university count as public service for PSLF?

What does “full time” employment mean for PSLF?

How long do I have to have worked at my job for it to count for PSLF?

If I take sick, disability, or family medical leave time off from work, or vacation time, can that time count toward PSLF?

How does PeaceCorps or AmeriCorps service work with PSLF?

Do I need to still work in public service when applying for and receiving forgiveness through PSLF?

If I work more than 30 hours a week for a public service employer but they do not consider me to be “full time,” do I have any options?

Does public service that I worked before taking out my loans count towards my total public service time?

If I’ve changed employers, can past employers count for PSLF?

Would public employment in a foreign country count for PSLF?

What if I have more than one job at the same time? Can both jobs count for PSLF?

Does seasonal work count?

Why doesn’t employment from before October 2007 count for PSLF, especially if my loans are from before 2007?

FAQs About Qualifying Payments

What payment plans qualify for PSLF?

How has the limited PSLF waiver changed the qualifying payments eligibility requirement for PSLF?

Do my payments need to have been full and on time to count for PSLF?

Can I continue to make payments on existing loans if I go back to school so that my loans will continue to get credit for PSLF?

Do payments made in bankruptcy count toward PSLF?

If I had to defer or forbear my payments for a period of time when I couldn’t afford them, does that time count for PSLF?

Whose income is used to calculate payments under IDR? Is it just mine or is it my combined income with my spouse?

How do I know which IDR plan is the best option for me?

My IDR plans are still too expensive for me. Do I have any options?

Is there an income cap for IDR, or other IDR eligibility?

Does it matter if my payments have only been covering interest, or some of the interest, and not principal?

Can you make bulk payments or payments in advance and have those count for PSLF?

FAQs About Private Loans

Are there any options for those who have private loans? What if they refinanced their federal student loans with a private lender?

If I am a cosigner and work in public service, can I have my cosigned loans forgiven through PSLF?

FAQs About Parent PLUS

Are there any options for those who have private loans? What if they refinanced their federal student loans with a private lender?

If I am a cosigner and work in public service, can I have my cosigned loans forgiven through PSLF?

Are Parent PLUS Loans eligible for PSLF?

Does the limited PSLF waiver work for Parent PLUS Loans?

If I previously consolidated Parent PLUS Loans with my other federal student loans, are my consolidated loans eligible for the limited PSLF waiver?

Does the waiver change any of the rules about which IDR plans I can access with my consolidated Parent PLUS Loans?

Is there anything that Parent PLUS Loan borrowers should do now to make sure they benefit from the limited PSLF waiver? What about the IDR adjustment?

FAQs About Refunds

If I have made more than 120 qualifying payments on my loans, will I get a refund when my loans are given?

If I already paid off my loan in full but I would have qualified for loan forgiveness, under the regular program or through the limited waiver, is there a way I can get my money back?

I made voluntary payments on my loans during the payment pause. I would like a refund of those payments. Should I request the refund before I consolidate my loans and/or file my PSLF paperwork?

FAQs About Consolidation Issues

Are there any options for those who have private loans? What if they refinanced their federal student loans with a private lender?