Benefits with County of Kern

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program (Part 2)

Qualifying Repayment Plans

Qualifying repayment plans include all of the income-driven repayment (IDR) plans (plans that base your monthly payment on your income).

While payments made under the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan are qualifying payments, you would have to change to an IDR plan to benefit from PSLF. Under the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan, your loans will be paid in full once you have made the 120 qualifying PSLF payments and there will be no balance to forgive. Before you change to an IDR plan, however, you should understand that your payment may increase under these plans depending on your income and the amount that you owe. If this is the case for you, and you do not wish to pay this higher amount, then the PSLF Program may not benefit you.

The following repayment plans do not qualify for PSLF:

• Standard Repayment Plan for Direct Consolidation Loans
• Graduated Repayment Plan
• Extended Repayment Plan
• Alternative Repayment Plan

PSLF Process

Because you have to make 120 qualifying monthly payments, it will take at least 10 years before you can qualify for PSLF. Important: You must be working for a qualifying employer at the time you submit the form for forgiveness and at the time the remaining balance on your loan is forgiven.

Whether you have made 120 qualifying payments, or are working toward PSLF and are completing your employer certification, you should fill out and submit the PSLF & Temporary Expanded PSLF (TEPSLF) Certification & Application (PSLF form): Link opens in a new windowhttps://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service/public-service-loan-forgiveness-application.

Either way, the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) will use the information you provide on the form to let you know if you are making qualifying PSLF payments. This will help you determine if you're on the right track as early as possible.

Alert! If you don't periodically submit the PSLF form, then at the time you apply for forgiveness, you will be required to submit employment certification for each employer where you worked while making the required 120 qualifying monthly payments.

PSLF Help Tool

The Link opens in a new windowPSLF Help Tool will

• Help you understand more about PSLF and TEPSLF and 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
• Use the information FSA has about your federal student loans to explain other actions you should or must take if you want to receive PSLF or TEPSLF

At this time, the PSLF Help Tool won't allow you or your employer to electronically sign the forms that the tool will generate for you. Therefore, after you complete the PSLF Help Tool process, you will need to print the PDF document that the tool generates, sign it yourself, have your employer sign it, and then submit the form to the PSLF servicer (Link opens in a new windowhttps://myfedloan.org) as instructed on the printed PDF document.

Use the PSLF Help Tool
Link opens in a new windowhttps://studentaid.gov/pslf

PSLF Form Process

After you submit a PSLF Form, your loans will transfer to the PSLF servicer. After the PSLF servicer determines how many qualifying payments you made during the employment period on your form, you'll receive a letter telling you the number of qualifying payments you have made.

The number of qualifying payments you have made will only be updated whenever you submit another PSLF form that documents a new period of qualifying employment. You can find out how many qualifying payments you've made by logging in to your account with the PSLF servicer and viewing your loan details or by looking on your most recent billing statement.

Employment Certification

Your employment can be certified by an official who has access to your employment or service records and is authorized by your employer to certify your employment or your service as an AmeriCorps or Peace Corps volunteer. This will often be someone in the human resources (HR) department, though in some cases your direct supervisor or another individual may be authorized to certify your employment. Check with your organization to see who is allowed to certify your PSLF Form.

Tax on Forgiveness

Amounts forgiven under the PSLF Program are not considered income by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Therefore, you will not have to pay federal income tax on the amount of your Direct Loans that is forgiven.

How to Submit the PSLF Form

Send the completed form, with your employer's certification, to FedLoan Servicing, the U.S. Department of Education's (ED's) federal loan servicer for the PSLF Program. You may mail the form to this address:

U.S. Department of Education
FedLoan Servicing
P.O. Box 69184
Harrisburg, PA 17106-9184

You may also fax your PSLF form to 717-720-1628. If FedLoan Servicing is already your servicer, you may upload your PSLF form on their website (Link opens in a new windowhttps://myfedloan.org).

Contact for PSLF Questions

If you have more questions, review the PSLF FAQ page: Link opens in a new windowhttps://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service/questions. If your questions aren't covered on that page, contact FedLoan Servicing at 855-265-4038.