43.4 million Americans have student loan debt totaling $1.75 trillion dollars. Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) is a federal program that forgives the remaining balance on your eligible student loans after you have made 120 qualifying monthly payments while working full-time for a qualifying employer. As a tax-exempt, not-for-profit organization, the University of Notre Dame is a qualifying employer for the program.
We are sharing information on this program to support the faculty and staff members that have loans and may qualify for forgiveness. More information on PSLF eligibility can be found in the Knowledge Hub Article on Public Service Loan Forgiveness or via the Federal Student Aid Website.
Temporary waiver requires action by Oct. 31, 2022
For a limited time, the PSLF program is granting credit for past periods of repayment that would not normally qualify for PSLF. After October 31, 2022, the PSLF will continue, but you may lose out on the one-time chance to receive credit for past periods of loan repayment.
Act now to take advantage of this opportunity:
1. Verify your loan types and consolidate to Direct Loans, if needed
- Loans must be consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan to qualify for PSLF.
- Under the limited waiver, you can still receive credit for past periods of repayment on Direct, FFEL, or Perkins Loans if you consolidate into a Direct Consolidation Loan by October 31, 2022. After the waiver ends, if you have not yet consolidated, you will receive credit on Direct Loans only, and the other types of loans will no longer be considered.
- Student loans on parent PLUS loans or from private lenders do not qualify for PSLF.
- Review what types of student loans you have using resources such as the PSLF Help Tool or the “Aid Summary” section after logging into studentaid.gov.
2. Apply for periods of repayment, even if not on an income-driven repayment plan
- Under the limited waiver, you can receive credit for periods of loan repayment even if they may have been on the wrong repayment plan, were made late, or were less than the amount due.
- Under normal PSLF requirements, payments must be made on-time and under a qualifying repayment plan.
- Though you are not currently obligated to make payments due to the student loan payment pause currently in effect until May 1, 2022, you can still estimate payments and apply for an income-driven repayment plan so that you will be on the right plan when repayment resumes.
3. Review the Federal Student Aid Website on the Limited PSLF Waiver for additional information on temporarily-changed requirements, including new rules for those who also receive Teacher Loan Forgiveness.
4. Use the PSLF Help Tool to apply for the program. You will be asked to provide employer information that must then be submitted to AskHR for certification.
For more information
While the PSLF is a federal program and not administered by the Office of Human Resources, there are many available resources upon which our faculty and staff can rely to take advantage of the program benefits.
If you have any questions, you may review the Knowledge Hub Article on Public Service Loan Forgiveness, visit the Federal Student Aid Website or contact the Office of Human Resources at askhr@nd.edu or 631-5900.