neo@web:~ $ cat pslf-requirements-checklist.md
$ cd ../pslf-calculator -- back to the calculator
PSLF forgives your remaining federal Direct Loan balance after 120 qualifying monthly payments made while you work full time for a qualifying employer. There are five requirements: Direct Loans, a qualifying employer, 120 qualifying payments, a qualifying repayment plan, and annual employment certification through the PSLF Help Tool.
Only loans made under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program qualify for PSLF. This includes Direct Subsidized, Direct Unsubsidized, Direct PLUS, and Direct Consolidation loans. If you have Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans or Federal Perkins Loans, they do not qualify on their own. You must consolidate them into a Direct Consolidation Loan first, and only payments made after the consolidation count toward the 120. Check your StudentAid.gov Dashboard to see exactly which loan types you hold before you make any decisions, because consolidating Perkins loans can also end your access to Perkins cancellation benefits.
Qualifying employment is about who you work for, not what you do. Your employer qualifies if it is a U.S. federal, state, local, or tribal government organization (including U.S. military service), a nonprofit tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or another nonprofit organization that provides certain qualifying public services. You must work full time, which generally means at least 30 hours per week or whatever your employer defines as full time, whichever is greater. For-profit employers do not qualify, no matter how public-minded the work is. If you are unsure about your employer, use the PSLF Employer Search inside the PSLF Help Tool on studentaid.gov. You can also ask Federal Student Aid to review your employer if it is not already in the database.
You need the equivalent of 120 qualifying payments, which is a minimum of 10 years. The payments do not need to be consecutive, and you can change employers along the way as long as each payment month is covered by full-time qualifying employment. Each payment must be full, on time, and scheduled: it has to cover the full amount due, arrive by the due date, and be a regular monthly bill. Payments made before October 1, 2007 do not count, because the program was created by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007. Partial payments, late payments, and months you spent in default do not count. A $0 monthly payment under an income-driven plan does count, as long as it was your scheduled payment.
Your payments must be made under a qualifying repayment plan. Income-driven repayment plans (IBR, PAYE, ICR) are the plans Federal Student Aid recommends if you want to get the most value out of PSLF, because they keep your monthly payment low while the clock runs. The 10-year Standard Repayment Plan also counts, but it usually pays off the loan before forgiveness kicks in, so there is little left to forgive. As of October 2026, the SAVE plan has been shut down following a federal court order, and a new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) was created by legislation in 2025. Repayment plan options are actively changing, so confirm the current list of PSLF-qualifying plans on studentaid.gov before you switch plans.
To be considered for PSLF, you submit the PSLF form. The easiest way is the PSLF Help Tool on studentaid.gov, which lets you confirm your employer qualifies, prepare and sign the form, and request electronic certification and signature from your employer (or generate the form for manual signature if electronic submission is not possible). This form replaced the older Employment Certification Form, or ECF, that longtime borrowers know. File it at least once a year and every time you change employers. Regular filing keeps your qualifying payment count current and catches problems early, while your payment history is still easy to fix.
Work through this checklist in order: 1) Log in to your StudentAid.gov Dashboard and confirm your loans are Direct Loans. 2) Look up your employer in the PSLF Employer Search. 3) Confirm you are on an income-driven plan or the 10-year Standard Plan. 4) Submit the PSLF form through the PSLF Help Tool and review the payment count that comes back. 5) Put a reminder on your calendar to file again in 12 months or when you change jobs. If all five checks pass, run the PSLF calculator to estimate your forgiveness date and projected forgiven balance.
No. The 120 qualifying payments do not need to be consecutive. If you change jobs or take a break from qualifying employment, your count pauses and resumes where it left off.
No. PSLF eligibility depends on who your employer is, not what job you do. Any full-time role at a qualifying government or nonprofit employer can count.
No. Loan amounts forgiven under PSLF are not considered taxable income by the IRS, under current law.
At least once a year, and every time you change employers. Use the PSLF Help Tool on studentaid.gov to prepare and sign your PSLF form.
Program rules as of October 2026 - Source: Federal Student Aid (studentaid.gov). Estimates only. Verify your payment count and plan eligibility with Federal Student Aid or your loan servicer. This is not financial or legal advice.