Public Service Loan Forgiveness Payment Count Adjustment Extension
For those MTA members who may have missed the federal student loan waiver opportunity that expired October 31, 2022, you have another chance to adjust your payment count to qualify for Public Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). Last week, the U.S. Department of Education quietly posted that it was extending it’s May 1st payment count adjustment deadline. Here’s the language of that announcement:
“Borrowers who have commercially managed FFEL, Perkins, or Health Education Assistance Loan (HEAL) Program loans should apply for a Direct Consolidation Loan by the end of 2023 to get the full benefits of the one-time account adjustment.”
Because no specific end-date is provided, we’re urging everyone whose loans were not issued through the “Direct” loan program to request a federal Direct Consolidation loan sooner rather than later. (You can do that on studentaid.gov.) By consolidating, you can receive retroactive credit for all the payments you’ve made until now that otherwise would have been considered ineligible. Importantly, this includes borrowers who’ve been told they have the “wrong kind of loans” (usually FFEL loans), or who were making payments through the “wrong repayment plan” (any plan other than one of the four income-driven plans).
For some borrowers who work in the non-profit sector, including all full-time MTA members, an adjusted payment count may push you past the 120 payments needed to qualify for PLSF. If you won’t reach the 120-payment threshold by having your payment count adjusted, it’s still very much worth doing, because you’ll increase the number of qualifying payments toward the 120 you need. You would then only have to make any remaining payments through one of the four income-driven plans.
MTAB’s student loan counseling partner, Cambridge Credit Counseling, is hosting a free webinar on May 1 at 6:00 p.m. to discuss the specifics of this opportunity and we encourage you to attend.