Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced significant, yet temporary, fixes to some of the issues
that prevented many borrowers from qualifying for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.
ED is offering a limited-time waiver to benefit borrowers who have struggled to meet the often-confusing requirements of PSLF, either because they have ineligible federal loans or mistakenly made payments while in ineligible repayment plans. Borrowers
can now be credited for payments previously deemed ineligible toward the total count needed for PSLF of 120 monthly payments (10 years of repayment).
Borrowers have roughly a year to apply for this waiver – the deadline is Oct. 31, 2022. Before this deadline, borrowers must apply for PSLF, certify their employment, and (if applicable) consolidate their loans into the federal “Direct Loan” program.
These changes should enable many more eligible borrowers to apply for and receive loan forgiveness. ED estimates that the waiver will help over half a million borrowers in public service progress toward PSLF and make 22,000 borrowers instantly eligible
without further action.
NCAN encourages our members to share this update widely with your alumni, colleagues, employees, and partners – anyone for whom these changes may be relevant.
For the most accurate and up-to-date information on how to apply for this waiver, please see ED’s PSLF Limited Waiver Page and FAQs and Federal Student Aid's PSLF Help Tool.
The creation of this waiver is not a complete overhaul of the PSLF program. Here are some elements of PSLF that are not changing:
Borrowers must be employed full-time in qualifying public service positions (e.g., government and 501(c)3 nonprofit employees).
Borrowers still need to account for 10 years, or 120 monthly payments, of repayment.
Federal Parent PLUS loans are not eligible for the waiver.
ED has also committed to an overall streamlining of PSLF eligibility, an improvement of the process for borrowers to dispute and rectify errors in their records, a more automated process for members of the military and other federal employees, and lastly,
a considerable communications effort to inform borrowers of new developments with the program.
ED says its actions were informed by the over 48,000 public comments it received in response to a recent request for information on improving PSLF. You can read NCAN’s submission to that inquiry here.
Additionally, ED is currently convening a process to potentially rewrite regulations on student loan issues, including PSLF, that are within its authority. If you are interested in a summary of the first round of this “negotiated rulemaking”
process, please see this blog from NCAN’s partners The Institute for College Access & Success and New America’s Education Policy program.
NCAN will continue to update our members of any major policy changes regarding federal student loans, especially given that the current repayment pause will end on Jan. 31, 2022.
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