Student Loan Forgiven After 10 Years

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) is a federal program that forgives the remaining balance of your federal student loans if you make 120 on-time monthly payments while working full-time in an eligible government or nonprofit job.

How the Program Works

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program is a federal program that forgives student loans after 10 years of qualifying payments. These loans are typically in the form of Direct Loans or Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL). Under the PSLF program, your payments don’t have to be full amount due each month—your monthly payments can be less than what’s required for standard repayment plans. As long as you’ve made 120 qualifying on-time payments within 10 years and work in public service for an eligible employer, you will qualify for loan forgiveness under PSLF after 10 years.

If you’re not sure whether your employer qualifies as a “public service” organization, check out this list from the Department of Education: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/publicservice#qualifying-employers

Who Is Eligible

If you have a qualifying federal student loan, then you may be eligible for loan forgiveness after 10 years of on-time payments. To qualify, you must:

• Have a qualifying federal student loan (not private).
• Make 120 on-time full monthly payments.
• Be a full-time teacher in a low-income school or serve low-income students as part of your teaching duties.

What Are the Requirements for Eligibility

If you’re eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, a federal loan servicer will send you an Employment Certification Form (ECF). You’ll need to complete this form and submit it to the loan servicer. Your employer may also be able to assist with submitting this form.

If you meet all of these requirements, you’re likely set for public service loan forgiveness after 10 years!

How Does It Work

To qualify, you must meet the following criteria:

• You must be a full-time teacher in a low-income school.
• You must teach for five consecutive years.
• You must teach in a low-income school.
• Your subject area is critical to the success of your students’ education, according to the Department of Education’s formula.

How to Apply

If you meet the requirements, you can have your student loan forgiven after 10 years. When you reach that point, contact your loan servicer and tell them that you would like to apply for forgiveness.

In order to set up a repayment plan or payment plan through the Department of Education (DOE), contact them at 800-621-3115 or visit www.studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/understand/plans

Contact your loan servicer today.

• Contact your loan servicer. If you have a federal student loan and have been paying on the loan for more than 30 years, you can apply for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). Your servicer will determine if you are eligible to apply and what documentation is needed.
• Apply for PSLF. The Department of Education has created an application that must be submitted by October 1st each year in order to remain eligible for PSLF during the next school year. You can fill out this form online at StudentLoans.gov or download it from their site and mail it in with all required documentation sent to the address listed on their website [1].

If you’re like many people, your student loans are a huge burden. But with the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, there is hope. You just need to make sure that you fulfill all of the requirements and apply for forgiveness within the 10-year time limit.