Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

Normal PSLF Rules

Normal PSLF Rules

Borrowers who have full-time public service jobs could be eligible for debt forgiveness if they meet the requirements:

• be employed by a U.S. federal, state, local, or tribal government or nonprofit organization;
• work full-time for that employer (or a combined 30+ hours for two or more qualifying employers); 
• have Direct Loans (or consolidate other federal student loans into a Direct Loan);
• repay loans under an Income-Driven Repayment plan; and
• make 120 on-time payments (approximately 10 years).

Note that PSFL rules will change in July 2023. View the upcoming rules in the Future of PSLF Fact Sheet (PDF) (ed.gov)

IDR Account Adjustment – 2023

IDR Account Adjustment – 2023

The Department of Education (ED) will conduct a one-time adjustment of Income Driven Repayment plan (IDR) qualifying payments for all Direct Loan program and federally owned Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program loans.

ED will conduct a one-time account adjustment to borrower accounts that will count time toward IDR forgiveness, including:

• any months in a repayment status, regardless of the payments made, loan type, or repayment plan;
• 12 or more months of consecutive forbearance or 36 or more months of cumulative forbearance;
• months spent in economic hardship or military deferments after 2013;
• months spent in any deferment (with the exception of in-school deferment) prior to 2013; and
• any time in repayment on earlier loans prior to consolidation of those loans into a consolidation loan.

Based on the newly eligible months from the one-time account adjustment, borrowers who have reached 240 or 300 months’ (as applicable) worth of payments for IDR forgiveness or 120 months of PSLF will begin to see their loans forgiven in spring 2023. All other borrowers will see their accounts update by the end of 2024.

Any borrowers with loans that have accumulated time in repayment of at least 20 or 25 years will see automatic forgiveness, even if those borrowers are not currently on an IDR plan.

If you have any questions about the IDR account adjustment, please check our Frequently Asked Questions document. 

PSLF Waiver – 2022

PSLF Waiver – 2022

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) limited time waiver period ended on October 31, 2022. If you have any questions about the waiver, please submit a request. 

On October 6, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced a new limited waiver opportunity for the PSLF program. For a limited time, borrowers could receive credit for past payments that had not previously qualified for PSLF.

Under this limited waiver opportunity, any prior payment made on a Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL), Federal Perkins Loan, or other non-direct federal student loan will count as a qualifying payment, regardless of repayment plan, or whether the payment was made in full or on time. All you needed was a qualifying employment and a Direct Loan. The waiver only applied to loans taken out by students, not parents.

In order to secure a review under the limited waiver opportunity, you may have needed to act by October 31, 2022. Please visit ED’s PSLF limited waiver opportunity webpage to find out what steps you needed to take, if any. For example:

• If borrowers had a loan type that does not normally qualify for PSLF, including a Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) or Federal Perkins Loan, they needed to consolidate that loan into the Direct Loan program by October 31, 2022.
• If borrowers had not submitted a certification for all periods of qualifying employment, they needed to submit a PSLF form via the PSLF Help Tool for any uncertified employment period by October 31, 2022.

Direct Loan borrowers who had previously submitted certifications from their employers will receive automatic updates of their qualifying payment counts for the certified employment periods. However, it could take several months for these updates to appear.

Please note that Parent PLUS loans were not eligible for the limited waiver opportunity unless they were consolidated with loans from the parent’s own education.

Quick PSLF Overview

Quick PSLF Overview

For a quick, easy to understand explanation of the program, please check out the How to Get your Student Loans Forgiven (No, Really) handout.

Steps to Apply for PSLF

Steps to Apply for PSLF

Do you want to apply for PSLF but don’t know where to start? Check out the Steps to Apply for PSLF for step-by-step guidance on how to apply and remain eligible for PSLF.

PSLF Frequently Asked Questions

PSLF Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have general questions about the PSLF program? Check out the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) FAQs to find answers to the most frequently asked questions about the program.

Information for Employers

Information for Washington State Agencies and Public Institutions of Higher Education

Office of Financial Management (OFM) created a webpage and HR portal to provide guidance on ESSB 5827 (codified as RCW 28B.77.009, RCW 43.41.425, RCW 41.04.045, and RCW 41.04.055) specifically to Washington state agencies and public institutions of higher education.

Information for Local Municipalities and Nonprofit Organizations

Employers play an essential role in helping borrowers receive Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). As part of our efforts to make the certification process easier for local government agencies and qualifying nonprofit organizations located in Washington state, we have created the following notice templates that you can use to support your employees on their path toward loan forgiveness:

• PSLF Notice for New Employees. We recommend sharing this letter with employees upon hiring, during the onboarding process to introduce the PSLF program and process.  
• PSLF Annual Notice. We recommend sharing this letter with employees on an annual basis and any time PSLF regulations change (see below) to continue raising awareness of the program and the resources available.
• PSLF Notice for Separated Employees. We recommend sharing this letter with employees during the separation process, so they know which steps to take to receive and potentially continue receiving PSLF credit.

PSLF program regulations may change from time to time. We will periodically update the letters to reflect the most up to date PSLF rules. If you would like to receive updates when these materials are updated, please email loanadvocate@wsac.wa.gov.

We’re here to assist PSLF employers! If you have any questions about the PSLF process as an employer, please send your question(s) to loanadvocate@wsac.wa.gov.

Additional Resources:

• Check out detailed guidance on which nonprofit organizations qualify for PSLF.
• Check out Federal Student Aid’s employer tips on tacking the PSLF form 
• Check out Federal Student Aid’s guidance on the employer’s role in PSLF
• Check out step by step instructions on how to use the PSLF Help Tool DocuSign feature as an employer
• Find out the acceptable signature methods on manual PSLF Forms.

Information for Washington State Employees

Washington State Directory for PSLF Contacts

If you are completing your PSLF form and need to find your current or former agency's Employer Identification Number (EIN) or HR contact information, refer to Washington state agency directory of PSLF contacts. 

The directory includes Employer Identification Numbers (EINs) and HR email addresses for each agency, which are required for employees to complete the PSLF form on the PSLF Help Tool.

Part-time Academic Employees Full-time Calculation

Are you a part-time academic employee (commonly known as “adjunct faculty”) at a public institution of higher education? Did you know that according to RCW 41.04.055, your human resources department at public institutions of higher education must multiply part-time faculty’s in-class teaching hours by 3.35 to calculate your hours worked for the PSLF form? This is to account for duties performed in support of, or in addition to, contractually assigned in-class teaching hours. 

Your human resources department may apply this calculation retroactively to figure out whether the U.S. Department of Education considers a part-time academic employee “full time” for the PSLF form. Please note that this calculation does not supersede any calculation or adjustment set up in the collective bargaining agreements or higher education institution policies.