Public Service Loan Forgiveness (Pslf): Employment Certification Form (Page 2 of 10) in pdf

Full payments are payments on your Direct Loan in an amount that equals or exceeds the amount you are

required to pay each month under your Direct Loan repayment schedule. If you make a payment for a month that

is less than what you are required to pay for that month, that month’s payment will not count as one of the

required 120 qualifying payments. If you make multiple, partial payments in a month and the total of those partial

payments equals or exceeds the required full monthly payment amount, those payments will count as only one

qualifying payment.

Scheduled payments are those that are made under a qualifying repayment plan after your federal loan servicer

has billed you for the month’s payment. They do not include payments made while your loans are in an in-school

or grace status or in a deferment or forbearance period.

You must make separate monthly payments. Lump

You can only make one

sum payments or payments you make as advance

payments for future months are not qualifying

qualifying payment per

payments. There are special rules on lump sum

month.

payments for borrowers whose public service

employment is with AmeriCorps or the Peace Corps.

What is a qualifying repayment plan?

To maximize your PSLF benefit, repay your loans on the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan, the Pay As You

Earn Repayment Plan, or the Income Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan, which are three repayment plans that

qualify for PSLF.

Other PSLF-qualifying repayment plans are the

PSLF is best under IBR, Pay As

10-Year Standard Repayment Plan or any other

repayment plan where your monthly payment amount

You Earn, or ICR.

equals or exceeds what you would pay under a

10-Year Standard Repayment Plan.

Before deciding on a repayment plan to repay your Direct Loans, it is important that you understand the

implications and costs of that decision. The longer you make PSLF-qualifying payments under a 10-Year

Standard Repayment Plan, the lower the remaining balance on your loans will be when you meet all of the PSLF

eligibility requirements. In fact, if you make all of the required 120 qualifying payments under the 10-Year

Standard Repayment Plan, there will be no remaining balance on your loans to be forgiven.

Under the IBR, Pay As You Earn, and ICR plans, your monthly payment amount will likely be lower than under

any of the other PSLF-qualifying repayment plans and your repayment period will likely be longer. Because of the

longer repayment period, additional interest that will accrue on your loan, and the smaller monthly payment

amount, you will be left with a higher loan balance that could be forgiven. However, if you ultimately do not meet

the eligibility requirements for PSLF, you will be responsible for repaying the entire balance of your loan, including

all accrued interest, unless you qualify for forgiveness under the terms of the IBR, Pay As You Earn, or ICR

repayment plan.

What kinds of employment qualify?

Qualifying employment is any employment with: a

Many not-for-profit employees,

federal, state, or local government agency, entity, or

organization (including entities such as a public

teachers, law enforcement

transportation, public water, or public bridge district, or

a public housing authority) or a not-for-profit

officers, and other government

organization that has been designated as tax-exempt

employees qualify.

by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under section

501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). The

type of services that these public service

organizations provide does not matter for PSLF

purposes.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (Pslf): Employment Certification Form Page 2

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