Using This Eligibility Assessment Tool This tool can assess your eligibility for the public service loan forgiveness program if you correctly answer all the questions. This is not an official acceptance into the program or denial. If you receive a positive result for your eligibility, you would then need to apply for the program. Qualifying for public service loan forgiveness(PSLF) requires ten years of payments. Previous payments made on your student loans may count to your forgiveness if they are qualifying payments. You may be eligible for immediate forgiveness, or you may need additional years of payments depending on how many you have previously made. Why Did I Get a Does Not Qualify Result? You would get a negative result using this eligibility assessment tool if: You do not work for a government, non-profit 501(c)(3), or a private non-profit in certain fields Your loans are not federal direct loans You are not in an income-driven repayment plan You do not work full time Your loans are in default Make Yourself Eligible By Fixing Your Student Loan Situation Almost everyone is able to qualify for the PSLF program depending on how willing you are to attempt to qualify. The most difficult to fix would be obtaining a qualifying job, but even that is possible. Make Your Loans Federal Direct Loans If your loans are federal, but not direct, you can consolidate into the William D Ford Direct Loan program and all your loans would then become eligible for PSLF. If you have private student loans, there is no way to refinance or consolidate them into a federal direct student loan. Your Repayment Plan is Not Income-Driven Federal student loans have multiple repayment options. Four of them are income-driven and qualify for PSLF. The payment is based on your income and could be as low as $0.00 per month (and those count as payments towards forgiveness), but if your income is high your payment could significantly increase. You can use this student loan payment calculator to get an estimate of what your income-driven payment might be in the various plans. You Do Not Work Full Time Full-time work, for the purpose of PSLF, is defined as 30 hours per week. To qualify for PSLF your employer must certify that you are working full-time. You can work multiple part-time jobs to qualify for PSLF as long as the total hours per week is 30 or more. Your Loans are in Default Getting your loans out of default to qualify for PSLF can be done in a few ways. You could elect to go through a student loan rehabilitation which would require 9 months of on-time payments on your student loans. Another method, arguably easier and fast, is to consolidate into the William D. Ford direct loan program. This would not only make your loans eligible for PSLF as discussed earlier but would also immediately take your loans out of default once the consolidation is complete. The consolidation typically takes two to three months. Why Did I Get a “Cannot Assess Eligibility” Result? Qualifying for PSLF requires every criterion to be met by the borrower. If you are unsure how to answer any of the questions in the tool and select “not sure” for any of the answers, we cannot assess your eligibility. Try to get the correct answers for the items you are unsure about, and come back to check your eligibility again. What Steps Do I Need To Take To Apply? If you qualify and you would like to apply, you have a few options. Mail-In a Paper Application You can complete this PSLF Employer Certification Form and mail it directly to the address listed on the form. Apply Online for PSLF You can apply online for PSLF through the studentloans.gov portal.
