Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

You may be eligible to receive loan forgiveness of the remaining balance of your Direct Loans ^* under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program if you:

• Are employed by:
  • a federal, state, or local tribal government organization — this includes the U.S. military;
  • a nonprofit organization that is tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; or
  • a nonprofit organization that is not tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code if it provides certain types of qualifying public services.
  Please note that if you are a contractor, your employment doesn’t count toward PSLF unless you are directly employed by a qualifying employer.Wondering if your employer meets the criteria above? Use the StudentAid.gov PSLF employer search to help determine if your employer may qualify you for PSLF. If you apply, make sure your employment certification history reflects all periods of public service employment.
• Work full-time according to your qualifying employer’s definition of full-time or at least 30 hours per week, whichever is greater. If you are employed in more than one qualifying part-time job at the same time, you will be considered full-time if you work a combined average of at least 30 hours per week with your employers.
• Make 120 qualifying payments or the equivalent (or receive credit for payments, such as during the COVID-19 payment pause).
• Have Direct Loans or consolidate other federal student loans into a Direct Loan. ^*
• Are employed full time by a qualifying employer at the time you apply for forgiveness and at the time the remaining balance on your eligible loan(s) is forgiven.

Learn more by using the PSLF Help Tool to search for a qualifying employer, determine what actions you may need to take to become eligible for PSLF or TEPSLF, and generate a PSLF form to submit to MOHELA, the PSLF loan servicer.

PSLF Servicer

Servicing for the PSLF Program is managed by another federal student loan servicer ( MOHELA).

Once you’ve completed and submitted your PSLF form to MOHELA, you can check the status of your request by going to MOHELA’s website at MOHELA.com, selecting PSLF in the top navigation bar, and choosing PSLF Form Status from the drop-down menu. Enter your Social Security number, date of birth, and last name, and select the Submit Request button.

If you’ve been approved to participate in PSLF, your eligible loans will be transferred from Nelnet to MOHELA. If your loans have already been transferred to MOHELA, you can log in to their borrower portal to track your PSLF progress and payment counts.

Limited PSLF Waiver: What Happens After the End of the Waiver October 31, 2022

The “limited PSLF waiver” refers to the time-limited changes to Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program rules that allowed borrowers to receive credit for past periods of repayment that would otherwise not qualify for PSLF. This opportunity ended on October 31, 2022. Beginning November 1, 2022, the U.S. Department of Education went back to the normal program requirements for both PSLF and TEPSLF.

For more details on the ending of the limited PSLF waiver, visit StudentAid.gov/pslfwaiver.

Income-Driven Repayment Account Adjustment Effects on Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program Applicants

The U.S. Department of Education announced that they will begin conducting a one-time revision of payment counts for eligible borrowers in Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Plans. These changes may also benefit borrowers in PSLF by increasing your payment counts.

For more specific information on the IDR account adjustment and its impacts on PSLF, visit StudentAid.gov/idradjustment,

You can also download this informative fact sheet on the applicability of this one-time adjustment to borrowers seeking PSLF.