The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program

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PSLF Resources

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program was created to attract more Americans to careers like teaching, public health, and law enforcement by providing those who work in these critical professions with a mechanism to discharge the balance of their student loan following at least ten years of consistent, on-time payments. The Department's handling of the program thus far hasn't met the level of performance we need, and I'm working to ensure that people in Connecticut who are depending on the PSLF are armed with all of the information they need in order to successfully navigate the program.

Trying to apply to for PSLF? Here's what you need to know:

• Only loans through the Federal Direct Loan program are eligible for PSLF
  • Eligible loans include: Federal Direct Stafford Loans (subsidized and unsubsidized), Federal Direct PLUS Loans, and Federal Direct Consolidation Loans
  • Ineligible loans include: Private and non-federal loans, Federal Perkins Loans and Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans—however, Perkins and FFELP loans may be refinanced into a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan
• Your federal loans will be transferred to FedLoan Servicing
  • Other federal loan servicers (Navient, Great Lakes, Nelnet, etc.) are not authorized to process loans forgiveness through the PSLF program
  • When you decide to enroll in the PSLF program, your loan servicing rights will be transferred to FedLoan Servicing from other servicers
• The PSLF program grants forgiveness per loan, not per borrower

About your employment:

• You must be a full-time employee (at least 30 hours/week) of a qualified public service employer when each payment is made and when forgiveness is received
  • Several part-time jobs may count as full-time employment if each part-time employer is eligible
  • Teachers under contract for at least 8 months are considered full-time employees
• Qualifying public service jobs may include government work or work at a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization
  • Some non-profit groups with other tax statuses may not be eligible
  • Other qualifying jobs include social work at a public or family service agency, military service, public safety and law enforcement, public library or school-based library services, and more
• You cannot qualify for multiple forgiveness programs from your employer for the same period of work
  • For example, you cannot get PSLF and Teacher Loan Forgiveness, Loan Repayment for Civil Legal Assistance Attorneys, etc. at the same time
  • You can qualify for multiple types of forgiveness, but qualified service months can only be counted toward one program at a time
• You must submit an Employment Certification Form annually or when you change employers to stay enrolled in the PSLF program

About your repayment:

• You must be enrolled in an eligible repayment plan to receive PSLF
  • Eligible plans include: Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR), Income-Based Repayment (IBR), Pay-As-You-Earn Repayment (PAYE), Revised Pay-As-You-Earn Repayment (REPAYE), Standard 10-Year Repayment Plan
• Federal Parent PLUS loans may limit your repayment plan options
  • Ineligible plans include: Extended Repayment (sometimes referred to as Standard Repayment—if the repayment term is longer than 10 years, it is not eligible), Income-Sensitive Repayment, Graduated Repayment
• You must apply for PSLF and be denied before you can see if you're eligible for Temporary Extended Public Service Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF)
  • If you were in a graduated or extended repayment plan for a period of time, you may be eligible for forgiveness under TEPSLF
• Your qualifying monthly payments are only counted annually through an Employment Certification Form. You will not receive monthly updates on qualifying payments.

• Once you complete 120 monthly payments on a Federal Direct Loan based on the requirements outlined above and then you must submit a PSLF Forgiveness Application to receive loan discharge