Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Frequently Asked Questions

The limited PSLF waiver was issued by the U.S. Department of Education on October 6, 2021, and expired on October 31, 2022, and waived certain requirements of the PSLF program and allowed borrowers to receive retroactive credit for past payments that were previously ineligible. Although this opportunity is over, similar benefits are available through the IDR Account Adjustment, described below.

All full time (defined as at least 30 hours a week) public service workers with federal Direct Loans can benefit from PSLF. Public service includes work within federal, state, local and tribal governments, nonprofits with a 501(c)(3) tax status, and certain other nonprofits.

Yes. Information from the Department of Education on PSLF can be found here: https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service.

There is no cap on the amount of debt that can be cancelled under PSLF. As long as borrowers work full time in qualifying public service, have Direct Loans, are in an Income-Driven Repayment plan, and make 120 qualifying payments, the entire balance of the federal student loan will be relieved.

There is no income cap for those who can benefit from PSLF.

In general, PSLF counts time toward forgiveness on a loan by loan basis. In other words, each loan must have 10 years’ worth of qualifying work and payments before it will be forgiven.

PSLF is independent from other federal or state loan forgiveness programs. However, months that count toward forgiveness on the income-driven repayment plans will count toward PSLF forgiveness as long as the borrower has qualifying employment in public service. Please note that credit toward the federal Teacher Loan Forgiveness program for federal student loans cannot also be counted toward PSLF. For more information on other federal forgiveness programs, visit this page.

“ECF” stands for Employment Certification Form. In the past few years, the Department of Education changed the name of this form to “PSLF Form.” This form is the form borrowers must use to document their progress toward PSLF with the federal government. Borrowers must have their public service employers sign the form in order to have qualifying monthly payments count toward PSLF.

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program is a permanent program. However, the limited PSLF waiver (which allowed borrowers to receive past credit for previously ineligible loan payments) ended October 31, 2022.

At the federal level, no, loan forgiveness under PSLF is not taxable income. States may treat loan forgiveness differently for state income tax.

Time spent in public service making qualifying payments does not need to be consecutive in order to count for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. If one leaves public service and returns, the credit count will pick up where it left off until 120 credits are reached.

Only loans in the name of the person working in the public service field are eligible for PSLF.

You do not need to currently have 120 qualifying payments in order to submit paperwork for PSLF. If you have fewer than 120 credits, you can still submit PSLF forms for previous and current qualifying work. Once your form is processed, your account will reflect the number of credits you have accrued. However you will not receive any loan cancellation until you have 120 credits. It is recommended that borrowers submit the PSLF form every year to help them track their progress toward debt forgiveness.