The Education Department (ED) announced a "Limited PSLF Waiver" and One-Time IDR Adjustment which expanded eligibility for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) for borrowers who have already been making payments. The deadline to take advantage of the expanded benefits of the adjustment ended June 30, 2024. The Education Department (ED) will update borrower accounts to reflect the adjustment by September 2024. Moving forward, ensuring that you have the correct loan type and repayment plan to accrue the required 120 qualifying payments for forgiveness under PSLF is important.
If you have only Direct loans:
With Direct loans, the good news is that your loans already qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), so you don't need to make any changes to your loan situation.
The only way to make sure all of your previous payments are counted is to turn in one employment certification form for every employer you've had since you started paying your loans and working in public service. (The earliest they'll accept is October 2007 since that's when the PSLF program was created.) To get started, you can log in to use our PSLF tool! You can complete the form, sign it, and submit it online.
If you've already certified all of your qualifying employment, then you're all set! Sometime in the summer of 2024, you will have access to your eligible and qualifying payment count on your FSA account.
If you have FFEL loans:
FFEL loans are not eligible for PSLF until they have been consolidated into a new Direct Consolidation Loan. Here are some of the next steps you need to take to ensure your payments will count.
- Consolidate your FFEL loans and enroll in IDR. Consolidation will mean combining your older loans into one new federal Direct Consolidation loan. Additionally, the Department of Education has stated that for future payments to count towards forgiveness, you will need to enroll in an IDR plan as well. Once your consolidation is complete and your new Direct Consolidation Loan is enrolled in an IDR plan, your payments will begin counting toward forgiveness. You can use Summer’s IDR tool to consolidate and enroll your loans in an IDR plan.
- Certify your employment. You'll need to complete and send in one employment certification form for every employer you've had since you started paying your loans and working in public service. (The earliest they'll accept is October 2007 since that's when the PSLF program was created.) This is the only way for the Department of Education to count your qualifying payments. If you have any additional employment to certify, you can use Summer’s PSLF tool!
If you have Perkins loans:
Perkins loans are not eligible for PSLF until they have been consolidated into a new Direct Consolidation Loan. If you're already in the process of pursuing Perkins Loan Cancellation, which is a separate program only for Perkins Loans, you may decide not to consolidate your Perkins loans and pursue PSLF. This will depend on whether you qualify for both programs and how far you are into the Perkins Loan Cancellation process.
If you choose to pursue PSLF, there are two steps that you'll need to take to make sure your payments are counted:
- Consolidate your Perkins loans and enroll in IDR. Consolidation will mean combining your older loan types into one new federal Direct Consolidation loan. Additionally, the Department of Education has stated that for future payments to count towards forgiveness, you will need to enroll in an IDR plan as well. Once your consolidation is complete and your new Direct Consolidation Loan is enrolled in an IDR plan, your payments will begin counting toward forgiveness. You can consolidate and enroll in IDR using Summer's IDR tool.
- Certify your employment. You'll need to complete and send in one employment certification form for every employer you've had since you started paying your loans and working in public service. (The earliest they'll accept is October 2007 since that's when the PSLF program was created.) This is the only way for the Department of Education to count your qualifying payments. If you have any additional employment to certify, you can use Summer’s PSLF tool!
If you have Parent PLUS loans:
Parent PLUS loans must be consolidated into a new Direct Consolidation Loan to pursue forgiveness under PSLF. While consolidated Parent PLUS loans are only eligible for one Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan, the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan, and Direct Loans are eligible for all plans. The ICR plan often yields the highest monthly payment due to how it is calculated. If you have a combination of Parent PLUS loans and Direct Loans, we generally recommend not to combine your Parent PLUS loans with any regular Direct Loans, otherwise, you’ll be required to repay all of your loans under the ICR plan if you want to pursue forgiveness. You can consolidate and enroll in an IDR plan through Summer's tool using this link, or by logging in and clicking on Income-Driven Repayment.
If you have FFEL or Perkins loans that have already been consolidated:
To make sure your previous payments before consolidation count towards PSLF, you'll need to complete and send in one employment certification form for every employer you've had since you started paying your loans and working in public service. (The earliest they'll accept is October 2007 since that's when the PSLF program was created.) This is the only way for the Department of Education to count your qualifying payments. To get started, you can log in to use our PSLF tool! You can complete the form, sign it, and submit it online.
If you've been in a non-IDR repayment plan:
Generally speaking, to be eligible for forgiveness under PSLF, Direct Loans can be enrolled in the Standard repayment plan or any of the Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plans. On the other hand, Direct Consolidation Loans should be enrolled in an IDR plan to make payments eligible for PSLF. You can use Summer’s IDR tool to enroll your loans in an IDR plan.
You'll need to complete and send in one employment certification form for every employer you've had since you started paying your loans and working in public service. (The earliest they'll accept is October 2007 since that's when the PSLF program was created.) This is the only way for the Department of Education to count your qualifying payments. To get started, you can log in to use our PSLF tool! You can complete the form, sign it, and submit it online.