The Biden Administration rolled out changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF), allowing for 145,000 borrowers to benefit from $8.1 billion in student loan cancellation. The program began in 2007 to help non-profit and government employees pay off their student loans within a ten year period should they meet the qualifications. The approval rate for PSLF, however, has been notoriously low – only 1 in 5 applicants out of 1.3 million seeking debt forgiveness through the federal program were on track to pay off their student loans by 2026.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Education revealed plans to temporarily waive certain PSLF applicant requirements and grant credit towards complete loan cancellation. The Hill recently detailed what this means for borrowers:

“A recent report from the Student Borrower Protection Center found over nine million public service workers likely qualify for debt cancellation through the PSLF program, but have yet to file the paperwork to start the process. California, Texas, Florida, and New York have the most public service workers with student loan debt, according to SBPC.

Under the current PSLF waiver, eligible borrowers can receive credit for payments made on other loan types, under any payment plan, before consolidation, or after the due date. Those who received Teacher Loan Forgiveness can apply for the period of service that led to their eligibility toward PSLF, if they can certify PSLF employment for that period.

Next, according to SBPC’s walkthrough guide, you’ll want to determine which type of federal student loans you have. Direct Loans are eligible for PSLF while other loans need to be consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan. Until the end of October 2022, previous qualifying payments you’ve made on a non-Direct Loan will count for the necessary 120 payments PSLF requires for forgiveness.”

Read the full article here.