The Department will start automatically adjusting payment counts for borrowers who have already consolidated their loans into the Direct Loan Program and certified some employment for PSLF, and those borrowers can expect to see these adjustments in their accounts in the coming months. Borrowers who have loans from the FFEL or Federal Perkins Loan programs will also have this waiver applied automatically, but only after they have consolidated and submitted a PSLF form, and all paperwork has been processed.
Simplify what it means for a payment to qualify for PSLF. In some instances, borrowers missed out on credit toward PSLF because their payments were off by a penny or two or late by only a few days. The Department will automatically adjust PSLF payment counts for payments made on or before October 31, for borrowers affected by this issue who have already certified some employment for PSLF. Borrowers who have not yet applied for PSLF forgiveness or certified employment but do so by October 31, will benefit from these temporary rules as well.
Eliminate barriers for military service members to receive PSLF. This change addresses one major challenge service members face in accessing PSLF. Service members on active duty can qualify for student loan deferments and forbearances that help them through periods in which service inhibits their ability to make payments.
But too often, members of the military find out that those same deferments or forbearances granted while they served our country did not count toward PSLF. This change ensures that members of the military will not need to focus on their student loans while serving our country.
Federal Student Aid will develop and implement a process to address periods of student loan deferments and forbearance for active-duty service members and will update affected borrowers to let them know what they need to do to take advantage of this change.
Automatically help service members and other federal employees access PSLF. Military service members and other federal employees devote themselves to serving the United States, and we should make it as easy as possible for them to get PSLF. Next year, the Department will begin automatically giving federal employees credit for PSLF by matching Department of Education data with information held by other federal agencies about service members and the federal workforce.
To date, approximately , federal employees and 17, service members have certified some employment toward PSLF. These matches will help the Department identify others who may also be eligible but cannot benefit automatically, like those with FFEL loans. Borrowers who believe there have been errors in processing their PSLF application after the Department first conducts the internal and external reviews described above will be able to use an interim reconsideration process to receive a second individual review next year.
A permanent reconsideration process is under consideration in the negotiated rulemaking process. To further strengthen oversight of PSLF, the Department will improve its reporting on PSLF, including information on timelines for processing applications and results of servicer audits.
The Department wants borrowers to know about PSLF and help those who may be close to forgiveness take the steps they need to get relief. Starting this fall, we will begin an extensive outreach campaign to make sure borrowers are better informed about this key benefit. This will include emailing borrowers who have hit PSLF-eligible payments during the pause but need to verify their employment to receive forgiveness.
ED will also notify borrowers about any additional payments we are able to automatically count and the option for reconsideration of denied applications, as applicable. We will also work to ensure that all potentially eligible borrowers are aware of the improvements to PSLF and tools available to them. We can and should make it easier for borrowers to apply for PSLF. In the coming year, FSA will make several improvements that will create a smoother application process.
ED will also explore other improvements, like allowing employers to sign employment certification forms on behalf of their employees and automating PSLF certification for state, local, and tribal government employees. In addition to the executive actions outlined here, ED plans to continue transforming PSLF through the negotiated rulemaking process. What Borrowers Need to Know. ED will roll out these improvements in groups over the coming months.
For more information, please visit StudentAid. By creating an account, we can communicate with you directly in a personalized way about how this waiver and other matters might affect you. If necessary, Federal Student Aid may contact you to ask you to certify additional months of employment. You should look out for an email from Federal Student Aid in the coming weeks to let you know how many additional payments we have preliminarily determined to be qualifying.
If you know that you have qualifying employment that you have not yet certified with us, we recommend you certify that employment now by using the PSLF Help Tool at www. You will need to submit a PSLF form so we can review your loans under the simplified rules and determine whether your current or past employers qualify for PSLF.
Because we expect an influx of applicants due to this announcement, you may see some delays in having your application processed, but we will work as quickly as possible to assist you. You will need to submit your application by October 31, We will provide more information when this update is done. To find out more about loan consolidation visit StudentAid.
This week, President Biden signed an executive order directing numerous federal agencies to streamline customer service activities. The upcoming expansion of features will mean that regardless of their specific federal student loan servicer, all Direct federal student loan borrowers will be able to access and repay their loans through a single portal.
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona in a statement. The Department has been working on implementing this universal federal student loan portal for years, but has not yet provided a specific timeline on the expected rollout.
The Department of Education will be temporarily easing administrative requirements for borrowers applying for, or renewing, income-driven repayment IDR plans.
Borrowers must usually submit either their most recently-filed federal tax return as proof of income, or they can submit alternative documentation of income such as a pay stub or a letter from their employer.
However, the Department is indicating that it will provide more flexibility for at least the first half of as borrowers return to repayment. Self-reporting will allow borrowers to simply self-certify their income, without necessarily going through the additional steps of providing documentation although they still can do that.
Self-reporting will make it easier for borrowers to access IDR, and will reduce the administrative burden on federal student loan servicers, given the unprecedented volume of borrowers who will be resuming repayment all at the same time after the payment pause ends in January. Borrowers should check StudentAid. In October, the Biden administration established the Limited PSLF Waiver program , which will temporarily ease the rules governing student loan forgiveness for employees who work for certain nonprofit organizations and government agencies.
As a result of the waiver, thousands of borrowers may get closer to student loan forgiveness through October 31, While FedLoan Servicing will continue to administer the PSLF program, the Department of Education will be ramping up its efforts to review eligibility and approve loan forgiveness under the waiver program through most of the next year.
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