Webinar| August 2022
How to benefit from Public Service Loan
Forgiveness, Limited Waiver Opportunity
Disclaimer
This presentation is being facilitated by a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
representative on behalf of the Bureau. It does not constitute legal interpretation,
guidance, or advice of the Bureau. It is being made by a representatives from the
Public Service Loan Forgiveness Support Group. The topics discussed by the
presenters may not represent the Bureau’s views on any particular matter. Any
opinions or views stated by the presenters are the presenter’s own and may not
represent the Bureau’s views. The Bureau is not endorsing The Public Service Loan
Forgiveness Support Group, the views they express, or any services they may offer.
Other entities and resources may also meet your needs.
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About the CFPB
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is a 21st century agency that
helps consumer finance markets work by making rules more effective, by
consistently and fairly enforcing those rules, and by empowering consumers to
take more control over their economic lives.
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Consumer education seeks to prevent harm
We serve the general public and focus on special populations:
▪ Servicemembers, veterans, and their families
▪ Older Americans, their families and caregivers
▪ Traditionally underserved and economically vulnerable
consumers
▪ Students and young consumers: Educate and engage
students to help students navigate financial products and
services and avoid student loan default or other negative
financial events
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Today’s
Discussion
What is PSLF?
Temporary changes to PSLF: Limited Waiver Opportunity
How do I qualify for PSLF Limited Waiver?
Scenarios: Consolidations and Refunds
What to expect next
Additional Resources
Q&A
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Christina Ceballos
Gen Olucha
Matt Amory
Administrators of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program Support (PSLF)
Group on Facebook
Contributors: Rachel Hurst, Christina Sutton, Priya D’Souza, and Sabrina Golling
The rationale behind PSLF
Enacted in October 2007
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program is intended to encourage
individuals to enter and continue in full-time public service employment by
forgiving the remaining balance of their Direct loans after they satisfy the public
service and loan payment requirements.
(34 CFR § 685.219)
Translation: work in public service for 10 years in exchange for loan forgiveness
Basic PSLF Requirements
1. Full time employment in public service
2. Have eligible loans.
3. Make 120 monthly payments while employed at a qualifying employer after
October 2007
Limited Waiver for PSLF
In effect until OCTOBER 31, 2022
Waives a number of traditional PSLF rules to fix past issues with PSLF
EVERYTHING WILL REVERT TO TRADITIONAL PSLF RULES ON NOVEMBER 1,
2022 UNLESS THE TEMPORARY WAIVER IS EXTENDED
Rules for Qualifying Employment
Who you work for
+
Your designation
+
How many hours you work
Without Qualifying Employment You Cannot Benefit From PSLF
Rules for Qualifying Employment
● Government
○ Federal, State, Tribal, County or Municipal Government (meaning EVERY SINGLE public K-12
school, community college, state college and state university)
● 501(c)(3) non-profits (including THE VAST MAJORITY OF private colleges,
universities and independent schools)
● And a very small number of nonprofits not organized as 501(c)(3)s
Remember: it’s not what you do in your job, it’s WHO you work for
Rules for Qualifying Employment
To qualify with full time employment
1. Full-time designation by your qualifying employer
2. Working at least 30 hours or more per week
To qualify with part time employment
1. Part-time designation by MORE THAN ONE qualifying employer
2. Work at least 30 hours per week total at these qualifying employers
PSLF Eligible Loans
Only loans owned by the Department of Education can be forgiven by the
Department of Education
● Direct Loans - Subsidized and Unsubsidized
● Direct Consolidation Loans - Subsidized and Unsubsidized
● Grad PLUS Loans
● Direct Parent PLUS Loans
PSLF Waiver: Converting Ineligible Loans
Until October 31, 2022 - the following loans types can be consolidated into Direct
Loans (owned by Department of Education) to make them eligible for PSLF and
receive credit for past periods of repayments on these loans.
● FFEL loans - Subsidized and Unsubsidized
● FFEL Consolidation Loans - Subsidized and Unsubsidized
● FFEL Parent Plus Loans*
● Federal Perkins Loans
● Other rare federal student loans
PSLF Waiver: Making 120 Payments
● Periods of repayment count:
● Under any plan
● On loans before consolidation, even if on the wrong repayment plan, if paid late or for less
than the amount due
● After consolidation where payments were late or for less than the amount due
● Utilized for Teacher Loan Forgiveness
● COVID-19 forbearance time counts (if you’ve continued making payments
ask for a refund before
consolidation!)
● Payments do not need to be consecutive
Must be after October 2007 while working at a qualifying employer
PSLF Waiver: Consolidation Scenarios
Loans You’ve Consolidated New DCL will have:
FFEL loan with 150 payments 150 payments
Direct Loan with 30 payments + Direct Loan with 130 payments 130 payments
FFEL loan with 30 payments + FFEL loan with 130 payments 130 payments
Direct loan with 20 payments + FFEL loan with 100 payments with overlap 100 payments
Direct with 20 payments + FFEL loan with 100 payment without overlap 120 payments
Direct Loan with 120 payments + Direct Loan with 150 payments Don’t consolidate
All scenarios assume payments began after Oct 2007 and are made while employed at a qualifying employer
PSLF Waiver: Parent Plus Loans
● You only have FFEL Parent Plus Loans (PPLs)
○ You must consolidate them into Direct Loans. No prior payments will count and you will
need 120 payments on the new consolidation loan to qualify for PSLF
● You have Direct PPLs
○ This means you have already consolidated them. Your payments since consolidation will
count
● You have PPLs AND your own student loans
○ You can consolidate them and your PPLs essentially ride on your own student loans backs
to forgiveness
Note 1: Consolidated Loans with PPLs are only eligible for ICR repayment. This can be removed
through “double consolidation” please see this link
for more information
Note 2: Based on parent’s employment, not the child’s employment
Refunds for Payments Over 120
Direct loan payments in excess of 120 are eligible for refund, but if you
consolidated (or reconsolidated an existing direct consolidation) the payments
must have been AFTER
the consolidation to be refunded.
PSLF Waiver: Refunds - Scenarios
Scenario Will You Get a Refund
150 payments on FFEL | consolidation to DLC for Waiver | no payments on new DCL No refund
2 Direct Loans | 1 with 30 payments and 1 with 130 payments | consolidated ALL for waiver | no
payments on new DCL
No refund
2 FFEL Loans | 1 with 30 payments and 1 with 130 payments | consolidated ALL for waiver | no
payments on new DCL
No refund
2 Direct Loans | 1 with 120 payments and 1 with 150 payments | NO Consolidation Refund of all payments over
120
20 payments on FFEL | consolidation to Direct a long time ago | 119 payments on DCL Refund of all payments over
120
All scenarios assume payments began after Oct 2007 and are made while employed at a qualifying employer
PSLF Waiver: What You Need to Do Today
1. Get very familiar with your loans; consolidate if needed
2. Submit a PSLF Application
3. Prepare for the end of the Waiver
Get very familiar with your loans
Log into studentaid.gov to learn what type of loan you have and to determine
what action to take first
If you have: Action you should take:
A single Direct Consolidation Loan (with two arms - subsidized and
unsubsidized)
Celebrate! You are all set.
Multiple Direct Loans Under 120 payments Consolidate them
ALL
Only FFEL Loans (regardless if consolidated or not) Consolidate them ALL together
A mix of Direct and FFEL loans all under 120 payments Consolidate them ALL together
A mix of Direct (over 120 payments) and FFEL (over 120 payments) Consolidate FFEL loans and leave Direct
Loans alone
A mix of or Multiple Direct (over 120 payments) and Direct/FFEL (under 120
payments)
Do the math refund vs immediate
forgiveness
Submit a PSLF Application
PSLF Help Tool can be found at studentaid.gov
When you fill out the PSLF Application using the Help Tool - it creates a code on it
that allows for faster processing (theoretically)
Submit for EVERY period of employment from EVERY employer to get credit for
EVERY qualifying payment
Sign with wet ink
Submit to MOHELA (fax, mail, upload)
TRIPLE CHECK YOUR WORK
What to Expect After PSLF Application Submission
1. Submit to Mohela BY OCTOBER 31st 2022 (by fax, mail, upload)
2. WAIT 120+ days
3. Mohela determines if your form is completed correctly and if your employer
qualifies
a. If your loans are not with Mohela they will automatically transfer for you (can take 4 weeks)
4. Mohela gives you first count - only what they can see (i.e. only since
consolidation)
5. Your account goes to Department of Education for application of the waiver
6. Mohela updates your payments based on what Dept of Ed tells them of your
previous payments
Payments identified by the PSLF Waiver become part of your ongoing payment
count. They do not expire simply because the Waiver Period Ends
Prepare for the end of the Waiver
● Employment rules remain the same
● Loan consolidation restarts 120 payment count
● Payments must be on time and in full (within 15 days of due date)
● Payments must be in a PSLF Qualifying Repayment Plan
Normal PSLF
● Receive credit only on DLs
● Repay only on PSLF Qualifying Repayment
Plan
● Make on-time payments
● Work full time for a qualifying employer
● Must work for a qualifying employer at time
of application AND forgiveness
● If you got TLF, the period of service that led
to your eligibility cannot also count toward
PSLF
● Receive credit for periods of repayment on DL, FFEL or
Perkins Loans
● Periods of repayment under any plan count
● Period of repayment on loans before consolidation
count, even if in wrong repayment plan
● Periods of repayment where payments were late or for
less than the amount due also count
● Periods of repayment on loans before consolidation
count, even if paid late or for less than the amount due
● Can get forgiveness even if not employed at a
qualifying employer at the time of application and
forgiveness
● If you got TLF, the period of service that led to your
eligibility can count toward PSLF if you certify PSLF
employment for that period
Until 10/31/22
TLDR: CONSOLIDATE AND SUBMIT PSLF APPLICATION BEFORE 10/31/2022
PSLF Qualifying Repayment Plans
The 10-Year Standard Repayment Plan (the default plan for new loans) but making 120 payments under this plan will pay off loans
completely
IDR (Income Driven Repayment) Plans
Each of the IDR plans has different eligibility requirements and a different way of calculating monthly payment
IBR (Income Based Repayment)
ICR (Income Contingent Repayment)
PAYE (Pay As You Earn)
REPAYE (Revised Pay As You Earn)
Payments do not need to be consecutive
What about TEPSLF?
Pot of money appropriated by Congress to expand access to forgiveness to
people who had been misled
Changes repayment plan rules only
Payments under an extended, graduated or extended graduated repayment
plan count
Pro: Available until the money runs out, no set expiration date
Con: Not as powerful as the waiver
What about One-Time IDR Adjustment?
● 12 or more months of consecutive forbearance or 36 or more months of
cumulative forbearance will qualify for PSLF credit for those periods of time
if you certify qualifying employment
● Any months spent in deferment (with the exception of in-school deferment)
prior to 2013 will qualify
● Months of Economic Hardship Forbearance on or after January 2013 will
qualify
● No action is necessary for these payments to be added to your count
● Periods of Forbearance and Deferment will begin to be reviewed in Fall 2022
Who to contact with questions
Come join the PSLF Group
Don’t use these until you have waited for resolution through your servicer and
exhausted all opportunities for them to help
Federal Student Aid Feedback Center
Federal Student Aid Ombudsman
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona on Twitter/Facebook
Direct Appeal to Members of Congress or Senators
How to Join Our Awesome Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/pslfprogramsupport
Resources for additional help
▪ Visit Department of Education’s FAQs on the PSLF Limited Waiver at https://studentaid.gov/announcements-
events/
pslf-limited-waiver
▪ Use the Department of Education’s PSLF Help tool at https://studentaid.gov/pslf/
▪ Want to consolidate your loans? Visit the Department of Education’s application at
https://
studentaid.gov/app/launchConsolidation.action
▪ Need additional help? Contact your student loan servicer for additional questions.
▪ Run into a problem?
◻ Contact the FSA Ombudsman Group: https://studentaid.gov/feedback-om budsman/disputes/prepare
◻ Su bm it a com plaint to th e CFPB: w ww.consumerfinance.gov/complaint
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