Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) is a forgiveness program for federal student loans that is designed for borrowers who were rejected from PSLF for making payments in the wrong repayment plan.
It’s called “temporary” because Congress allocated a set amount of funds for the program. Forgiveness is granted on a first-come, first-served basis, and once the funding is out, the program will be over. This program may be a good option for borrowers who are close to forgiveness, but borrowers at the beginning of the process shouldn’t count on this program being around in another ten years.
It’s called “expanded” because it broadens the repayment plans that qualify. In addition in income-driven repayment and the10-year Standard plan, payments made on Graduated, Extended, Extended Graduated, and longer term Standard plans also qualify.
The other requirements of PSLF are the same, which means that only Direct loans qualify.
There’s also one more requirement that can be confusing to meet: for your last year of payments, the first and last payment have to be equal to or greater than what they would under and income-driven repayment plan.
For example, say you were making payments in the Extended plan and your monthly payment was $100 a month. If you were in an income-driven repayment plan, your payments would be $125. In order to receive TEPSLF, you’ll need to make payments of at least $125 for the first and last payment of your last year of payments. You could also enroll in an income-driven repayment plan for the last year of payments to meet this requirement.
The process for receiving TEPSLF is:
- Submit a Forgiveness Application for Public Service Loan Forgiveness and get rejected. You’ll have to meet all the requirements except the repayment plan.
- Send the following email provided by the Department of Education:
To: TEPSLF@myfedloan.org
Subject: TEPSLF request
I request that ED reconsider my eligibility for public service loan forgiveness.
Name: [Enter the same name under which you submitted your PSLF application]
Date of Birth: [Enter your date of birth in MM/DD/YYYY format]
Thank you.
3. Wait to be approved.
The Department of Education has recently announced that they will be combing the PSLF and TEPSLF Forgiveness Applications, so this process may change soon.