The U.S. Department of Education recently announced major changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF).

The PSLF program forgives the remaining balance on an individual’s federal Direct Loans (a federal student loan made by the U.S. Dept of Education) after the individual’s having made 10 years (120 months) of qualifying monthly payments.  Over the specified 10-year period of time the borrower must be working full time for a qualifying employer.   Unfortunately, for various reasons, many individuals that originally qualified for this loan forgiveness program, no longer meet the qualifications to have their school loans forgiven at the end of the 10-year period.

The Department of Education is offering a time-limited waiver that will allow payment to other federal loan programs to qualify for the forgiveness.  Previously, such payments were deemed ineligible for the PSFL program.  The Department of Education estimates that more than 550,000 borrowers may benefit from this waiver.

If you were eligible for the PSLF program and consolidated your school loans making you no longer eligible for forgiveness or you no longer qualify for other reasons, then visit the link on the U.S. Department of Education website to check whether or not you will meet the qualifications to apply for this special waiver.  The waiver application period runs through October 31, 2022.  https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/fact-sheet-public-service-loan-forgiveness-pslf-program-overhaul