Information and Reminders on Student Loan Forgiveness

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program will forgive the remaining balance of full-time federal, state, tribal, military, local government or qualifying non-profit employees that have repaid a minimum of 120 direct federal student loan payments. The program currently has a waiver that will allow borrowers to receive credit for past periods of repayment that would otherwise not qualify for PSLF. The deadline for the PSLF application is Oct. 31, 2022. To see if you qualify, and to get more information, visit the Federal Student Aid website.

The U.S. Department of Education also recently announced their three-part student debt relief plan. With this plan, federal loan borrowers have the potential to receive up to $20,000 of relief.

Part one of the student loan debt relief plan provides borrowers with a final extension of the student loan repayment pause. The pause will be extended until Dec. 31, 2022, with payments resuming in January 2023. During this final extension period, no action from borrowers is required. The extended pause will occur automatically.

The second part of the debt relief plan is set to provide up to $20,000 of debt relief to Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for those who did not receive Pell Grants. Only borrowers with an income less than $125,000 for individuals or $250,000 for households qualify for forgiveness.

The final portion of the student debt relief program proposes to reinvent an income-driven repayment plan that will help reduce future monthly payments for lower-and-middle income borrowers allowing them to pay no more than five percent of their monthly income toward their undergraduate loans. This plan will also forgive loan balances of $12,000 or less after 10 years of repayment.

The U.S. Department of Education advises citizens to be aware of companies that attempt to help with loan forgiveness, debt relief or cancellation for a fee. The Department of Education will never charge a fee to help with borrowers' federal student aid.

While the details are still being finalized, the application is set to go live during October. To be notified when the application goes live, visit the Department of Education’s subscriptions webpage to sign up for notifications.