To qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), you must be enrolled in a qualifying repayment plan while making your 120 qualifying payments. The repayment plans that qualify for PSLF include:
- Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plans such as:
- Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan
- Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Plan
- Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) Plan
- Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan
- The 10-year Standard Repayment Plan
- Any other repayment plan where your monthly payment amount equals or exceeds what you would pay under the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan
While the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan qualifies, making all 120 payments under this plan typically results in your loan being fully paid off, leaving no balance to forgive. Therefore, most borrowers aiming for PSLF benefit from enrolling in an income-driven repayment plan, which often results in lower monthly payments and a remaining balance eligible for forgiveness after 120 qualifying payments
. Additionally, to qualify, payments must be made on Direct Loans (or consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan if originally from other federal loan programs), be full, on time, and made while working full-time for a qualifying public service employer
