Public employees who hold federal student loans may be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. To be eligible to have the student loan balance forgiven, an individual must have made 120 payments while employed by an eligible employer (which WSU is).

To determine if you are eligible, to apply to the program, or to learn more, visit the PSLF webpage. This site provides a tool that can assist you in determining if you are eligible.

PSLF Webinar Recording

Act now to take advantage of the limited PSLF waiver, ending October 31, 2022.  Under this option, borrowers may receive credit for past periods of prepayment that would otherwise not qualify for PSLF. 

The PSLF program is separate from the loan relief process announced in August 2022 by the Biden Administration. Through this process, borrowers are eligible for relief if their individual income is less than $125,000 ($250,000 for married couples). Pell Grant recipients with loans with the Department of Education can receive up to $20,000 in debt cancellation, and non-Pell Grant recipients can receive up to $10,000 .

PSLF Frequently Asked Questions

What is the temporary change/limited waiver?

You might be able to get credit for your past payments that didn’t previously qualify. Under this temporary waiver, your payments on non-Direct loans (e.g., Federal Family Education Loans, Perkins, other non-Direct federal loans) may count towards the 10 years of loan payments that you need for loan forgiveness. It could count even if your payment was late, was less than the amount due, or if you were in the wrong payment plan at the time. You can get credit for these payments until October 31, 2022.

What should I do to get credit for past payments that didn’t previously qualify?

  1. Make sure you have federal Direct loans. If you don’t have Direct loans, you will need to consolidate your loans into a Direct Consolidation loan. If you are not sure what type of loans you have, visit the Federal Student Aid site and log in with your Federal Student Aid ID.
  2. Visit the PSLF Help Tool to fill out Sections 1 and 2 on an updated PSLF form so that your loan servicer double checks for any missed payments that could count.
  3. Send the form to Human Resource Services Records Unit to complete Sections 3 and 4.  Deliver to 232 French Administration, or PO Box 641014, Pullman, WA  99164-1014, or email hrs.records@wsu.edu
  4. You then need to submit the form to the address listed in Section 7.

What if I haven’t consolidated my loans before?

If you have FFEL, Perkins, or other non-Direct federal loans, you first need to consolidate them to take advantage of this waiver before October 31. You can apply on the Student Aid site to do this or consolidate them by calling your student loan servicer. Then, follow the steps listed above.

It could take a few months to get your loans consolidated once you’ve applied so we recommend you start the process as soon as possible.

Questions?