Start Here

Hi! The deadline for the PSLF Waiver was Monday October 31. The PSLF.nyc and PSLF.us outreach campaigns have now concluded.

HOWEVER! There may be more you can do to access Public Service Loan Forgiveness.  And there are ongoing resources and partners who can help.

1. If you met the PSLF Waiver deadline by using the government’s online PSLF Help Tool - don’t forget to submit ALL of your relevant employer certification forms ASAP. You can reuse the Help Tool as many times as you need to generate the forms.

2. If you have not yet applied for PSLF - although some of the benefits of the Waiver period are over, many people can still get their loans totally forgiven! 

  • You can find an excellent free, regularly updated How-To guide from the nonprofit CancelMyStudentDebt.org.

  • In New York, the best place to get excellent, free 1:1 advice and counseling by phone or email is from the nonprofit EDCAP

The information pasted below may also still be useful to you as you go through the process.

THANK YOU to our incredible Staff and Steering Committee members, our PSLF.nyc Partners and our PSLF.us Partners, hundreds of other organizational allies, and tens of thousands of individuals like you who helped spread the word.

–The PSLF.nyc and PSLF.us Team

Step 1: Watch this 5 minute Welcome Video!

[TIP: Use the CC / Closed Captions button if you don’t have speakers or headphones.]

STEP 2: Meet the 10/31 deadline simply by using the federal government’s PSLF Help Tool AND starting any required Loan Consolidation at StudentAid.gov/PSLF

The Federal Government has clarified that with time running out, you must only complete this simple Help Tool in order to officially meet the deadline. This 20-30 minute process is where every single borrower should begin. You can mail or fax any required signed forms at a later date.

You don’t need to read lengthy instructions or background. The Help Tool asks for basic information about your nonprofit or government jobs, records the date so the government knows you met the deadline, and then delivers a PDF with two parts:

  1. A personalized overview and summary of next steps

  2. Pre-filled forms for you and your employers to print out, sign, and mail/fax.

Other than recording the date, the help tool itself does not officially “submit” your form. Therefore it is a no-risk tool. You may return to use it multiple times with no penalty.

A. Visit www.StudentAid.gov/PSLF

B. Log In.  If you do not have a login / password, you must create an account. If you are notified that it will take several days, beyond the deadline, to create your StudentAid.gov account, SEE BELOW.

C. Run the Help Tool. The Help Tool will ask for the EIN/Tax ID of all potentially eligible employers.

  • If you do not know the EIN for one or more of your employers, try a simple Google search for [EMPLOYER NAME] EIN

  • The EIN for all employees of the City of New York (including school employees) is: 13-6400434.

  • If you don’t know the exact dates of employment, that’s ok. Run the Help Tool with your best guess of dates, just to see where you stand. You can return and re-run the Help Tool at a later time with exact dates.

D. Review the Help Tool report. If you have any loans that are not “Direct-type” loans, you must convert them by using the “Loan Consolidation” process. You must start this process (an extra 10 minutes online) before 10/31. For most borrowers this is a very ordinary and boring part of the process.

E. You did it! By running the Help Tool (and starting loan consolidation) you met the 10/31 deadline!

IMPORTANT NOTES:

  • If you can’t get in to your StudentAid.gov online account until after the deadline, as an alternative you can fill out this blank PSLF application form by hand and have at least ONE of your qualifying employers sign and date it by October 31. Then whenever you submit it and the rest of your application (as soon as possible, of course) you will be considered as having met the deadline. If you must also consolidate loans, you must complete and mail this blank application as well by Monday 10/31.

  • Holders of ParentPLUS Loans:

    • If you ONLY have ParentPLUS loans - those loans are not eligible for the benefits of the PSLF Waiver period. You should not rush to apply or consolidate loans before the deadline - get some 1:1 counseling over the next few weeks.

    • If you have ParentPLUS loans AND your own personal student loans - you CAN consolidate all loans together right now, have the new combined loan treated as eligible for the PSLF Waiver period, and move forward. However this combined loan will have a more limited menu of repayment plans and your monthly payment may go up. If you have a long time before reaching the 10 year mark for loan forgiveness, you still may not want to consolidate.

Your Help Tool report will be emailed to you and will remain available online at StudentAid.gov. You can print out the forms now, or do so later. You will need to have all your relevant employers sign their Employment Certification Forms before you submit your application by fax or mail as described in the report. If you don’t know employment dates and need a blank form - here it is.

Step 3: If STUCK at any time using the Help Tool:

A. Review answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions

B. The excellent website ForgiveMyStudentDebt.org offers a series of step-by-step application process videos.

https://forgivemystudentdebt.org/get-started/ 

C. You can also review the excellent plain-English overview and FAQ of the PSLF Waiver at the US Department of Education:

https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/pslf-limited-waiver 

D. If you have time, watch our PSLF.nyc 30 minute “Intro to PSLF” video.

E. RETURN TO STEP 2.

Step 4: If STUCK after reviewing the above resources, free, live, online support might be available, right now. 

A. 60 minutes of open time for Borrower questions. This is an “advanced-level” session designed for Borrowers who have already used the StudentAid.gov/PSLF Help Tool but gotten stuck.

Register for any of these times on Monday October 31, even if the session has already started:

B. RETURN TO STEP 2.

Step 5: If STUCK and unable to get help today, there may still be other options for you later.

A. The Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program (EDCAP) offers student loan help for anyone who lives or works in New York State. Email your questions to edcap@cssny.org. 

B. NYC Financial Empowerment Centers provide financial counseling and coaching to anyone who lives or works in New York City. To make an appointment visit nyc.gov/TalkMoney or Call 311 and say "Financial Counseling.”

C. The Institute for Student Loan Advisors offers free email support to student loan borrowers anywhere in the US.