Frequently Asked Questions
What is Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)?
This federal program eliminates, or forgives, federal student loans for specific borrowers. To qualify, you must be employed full time in an eligible public service or nonprofit job, and you must have made 120 eligible on-time payments in no less than 10 years.
Payments don’t have to be consecutive, so you can gradually work toward forgiveness over time. However, only eligible payments made during eligible employment count toward that 120 number.
Which federal student loans are eligible for forgiveness under the PSLF?
Any non-defaulted loan made under the Federal Direct Loan Program (FDLP) is eligible for public service loan forgiveness, including Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized, Direct PLUS, and Direct Consolidation loans.
Although public service loan forgiveness is available only for loans made under the FDLP, loans made under the Federal Family Education Loan Program, Federal Perkins Loan Program, and certain health professions and nursing loan programs — may qualify for forgiveness if they are consolidated into a Direct Consolidation loan. However, only payments made on the Direct Consolidation loan will count toward the 120 monthly payments required for forgiveness.
What counts as an eligible payment?
Any payment made on a loan from the government’s direct loan program is eligible. If you have other federal loans, you can consolidate them into this program to potentially qualify. However, any payments you’ve made up until that point won’t count toward your 120.
What types of public service occupations will qualify for loan forgiveness under the PSLF?
The borrower must be employed full time (in any position) by a public service organization, or must be serving in a full-time AmeriCorps or Peace Corps position. For purposes of the PSLF, the term "public service organization" means: A federal, state, local, or Tribal government organization, agency, or entity (includes most public schools, colleges, and universities).
Public service jobs include teachers, first responders (policy, fire, EMT), public librarians, social workers, public defenders and prosecutors, and people who work for tax-exempt charitable organizations, non-profit 501 (c). It also includes people who work for the government, (Federal, State, Local or Tribal) and the military.