In Oct. 2021, the Biden Administration issued a “Limited Waiver” of some of the strict requirements of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. Qualifying payments now include older federal loans, as well as non-Income Driven Repayment and late payments. While many have already received forgiveness under this temporary waiver, or are working toward eligibility, the U.S. Dept. of Education estimates that hundreds of thousands more borrowers will be on average two years closer to loan forgiveness because of the waiver’s provisions.

Educators and other public service workers must submit a PSLF application before Oct. 31, 2022, to receive the benefits of the Limited Waiver. More info here.

Take action before Oct. 31, 2022!

Visit Public Service Loan Forgiveness, log in with your Federal Student Aid ID (or create one if you do not have one) and make sure your contact information is up to date. The U.S. Department of Education uses this as their primary method of contact to reach you about the progress of your PSLF application.

If you have a Direct Loan, have made 120 payments, and have applied for PSLF, you should receive automatic forgiveness or updates about your payment count soon.

If you have a Direct Loan and have NOT applied for PSLF, you need to apply for PSLF immediately, even if you haven’t reached 120 payments yet. If you have a Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) or Perkins loan, you must first consolidate into a Direct Loan, then apply for PSLF before th
waiver period ends Oct. 31, 2022.

To begin your application visit PSLF, and use the Department of Education’s PSLF Help Tool.

Why You Should Apply

You should submit the PSLF application even if you have not yet made 120 qualifying payments or reached 10 years of service. Submitting the application will help confirm you are on the right track by ensuring you are making qualifying payments and working for a qualifying employer.

It will also allow Federal Student Aid (FSA) to alert you if any changes are necessary and, under the temporary waiver, ensure any payments you’ve made that qualify under the temporary waiver but would not otherwise qualify under the regular PSLF requirements are counted toward your total.