All full time public service workers with federal student loans can benefit from PSLF. Public service includes work within federal, state, local and tribal governments, nonprofits with a 501(c)3 tax status, and certain other nonprofits.

YES! Even if you have not completed your ten years of service, you should apply for the PSLF Waiver. Start your application now, and then have your employers certify your employment annually going forward as you complete more of your career in public service. By doing this, more of your past payments may qualify toward your total of the 120 payments needed for PSLF loan cancellation.

Yes. PSLF – or Public Service Loan Forgiveness – was put in place in 2007. It is a student loan forgiveness program for people who work in public service for 10 years and make 120 qualifying payments on their student loans. After those two conditions are met, eligible borrowers can have their remaining debt cancelled. To apply for PSLF loan forgiveness, visit www.studentaid.gov/pslf. The Biden Student Loan Relief gives up to $10,000 of debt forgiveness to every person with student loan debt who earned less than $125,000 in 2020 and 2021 or less than $250,000 per couple. People who received Pell Grants may be eligible for up to $20,000 in debt forgiveness. To learn more and to apply for the Student Loan Relief, click here: https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief/application.

The deadline to file for the PSLF Waiver is October 31, 2022. Right now, that seems to be the final deadline. However, if you are having trouble gathering the employer signatures needed for your waiver, you can still apply using the PSLF Help Tool by October 31 and your application will be received by the Department of Education. You will need to fill out the Help Tool and complete the steps for one PSLF eligible employer by October 31 to apply. To do this, begin the PSLF Help Tool by October 31, 2022 and generate a PSLF form that will eventually be approved. The Education Department will maintain a record of your form if you complete all the steps of the PSLF Help Tool on or before October 31, 2022. You will have time after October 31 to print, sign, have your employer(s) sign, and submit the PSLF form to MOHELA, the PSLF servicer. As long as the Help Tool application is completed online by October 31, you’ve met the deadline. You will need to mail or fax your form once you have it completed to receive PSLF. Right now, we do not know what the deadline to finalize your application will be, but we advise you to get this done as quickly as possible.

There is a simple application form for applying to this debt relief program, which is separate from the PSLF Program. It can be found at: https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief/application. You will only need to provide your name, date of birth, social security number, phone number, and email to apply. You will also need to certify that you qualify under the income requirements (income below $125,000 for an individual and under $250,000 for a couple).

Only loans in the name of the person working in the public service field are eligible for PSLF.

Yes. Information from the Department of Education on PSLF can be found here: https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service.

There is no income cap for those who can benefit from PSLF.

There is no cap on the amount of debt that can be forgiven under PSLF. As long as borrowers work full time in qualifying public service, have Direct Loans, are in an income-driven repayment plan, and make 120 qualifying payments, the entire balance of the federal student loan will be forgiven. During the limited PSLF waiver discussed below, borrowers can access PSLF even if they do not have a Direct Loan and even if they have not historically made payments on an income-driven repayment plan.

“ECF” stands for Employment Certification Form. Recently, the Department of Education changed the name of this form to “PSLF Form.” This form is the form borrowers must use to document their progress toward PSLF with the federal government. Borrowers must have their public service employers sign the form in order to have qualifying monthly payments count toward PSLF.

PSLF is independent from other federal or state loan forgiveness programs. However, months that count toward forgiveness on the income-driven repayment plans will generally count toward PSLF forgiveness as long as the borrower has qualifying employment in public service. For more information on other federal forgiveness programs, visit this page.

Yes, borrowers must submit PSLF Forms for any qualifying public service work, however borrowers can apply at any point and get credit for past qualifying work and payments, so there is no “missed” chance. *Note: the limited PSLF waiver discussed below has a special deadline of October 31, 2022.

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program is a permanent program. However, the current limited PSLF waiver discussed below (which allows borrowers to receive past credit for previously ineligible loan payments) ends October 31, 2022.

In general, PSLF counts time toward forgiveness on a loan by loan basis. In other words, each loan must have 10 years’ worth of qualifying work and payments before it will be forgiven. However, during the limited PSLF waiver discussed below, borrowers with multiple loans and loans that were taken out at different times can consolidate all of the loans together into a single new loan, the timeline for which will be equal to the borrower’s oldest loan. In this way, once a borrower achieves the 120 credits required for forgiveness, all of their loans would be forgiven.

At the federal level, no, loan forgiveness under PSLF is not taxable income. Every state treats loan forgiveness differently for state income tax.

Time spent in public service making qualifying payments does not need to be consecutive in order to count for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. If one leaves public service and returns, the credit count will pick up where it left off until 120 credits are reached.