Chances are that you’ve at least heard of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program, but do you know if your loans qualify? How to apply? If not, we’re here to help!

First, what is PSLF? PSLF is a program that forgives the remaining balance on your Direct Loans after you have made 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time for a qualifying employer. However, your loan will only be forgiven if you meet all the PSLF Program eligibility conditions.

To qualify for PSLF, you must:

work for a government agency or for certain types of nonprofit organizations;

work full-timefor that agency or organization;

have Direct Loans (or consolidate other federal student loans to qualify);

repay your loans on an income-driven repayment plan; and

make 120 on-time qualifying payments.

We know it can be overwhelming to work through all of the eligibility requirements, so we created the PSLF Help Tool. The tool will help you navigate the PSLF application process. It saves time and prevents a rejection letter when it comes time for your loans to be forgiven.

The PSLF Help Tool was created to:

help you understand the PSLF Program – what you need to do to participate and possibly have your loans forgiven.

help you assess whether your employer qualifies for PSLF.

help you assess whether your loans qualify for PSLF.

help you decide which PSLF form to submit.

generate a partially completed form for you to take to your employer to sign, and then for you to submit to FedLoan Servicing.

use the information we have about your federal student loans to explain other actions you should or must take if you want to receive PSLF.

We strongly encourage all PSLF applicants to use the tool annually and when or if they switch jobs to ensure they’re staying on track. Here are four steps to use the PSLF Help Tool:

1.) Log in with your FSA ID. The tool will import your loan information automatically (you cannot use the tool if you don’t have an outstanding loan balance).

2.) Find out if your employer qualifies for PSLF.

3.) Find out if your loans qualify. If they don’t, the tool will walk you through your options.

4.) Your information can be preloaded into a form that you can print and submit. Your information will be preloaded into a form that you can print to submit. The Help Tool will NOT submit the form for you.

To complete the process, you must take the PDF document that the Tool generates, sign it yourself, have your employer sign it, and then submit the form to FedLoan Servicing, the Department of Education’s PSLF servicer. We’ll remind you of this information when you print your form. It takes approximately ten business days after you submit your ECF for it to be processed.