By Andrew Paulson, CSLP, Lead Student Loan Consultant and Co-Founder of our partner site StudentLoanAdvice.com
In 2022, President Biden issued an executive order that makes permanent changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF). This flew under the radar while legal battles ensued over the flagship student loan forgiveness plan that was recently blocked by the Supreme Court.
PSLF has been around since 2007, and for the first decade or so, very few borrowers had success receiving student loan forgiveness. In recent years, we’ve seen more and more borrowers have success with the program. Borrowers who’ve qualified for PSLF have now swelled to more than 600,000. This is due to the IDR and PSLF waivers that granted credit to borrowers who were not previously considered eligible (whether for incorrect repayment plans or deferment/forbearance) and because of the increase in overall applicants. PSLF is no longer an absolute shot in the dark, and it should merit strong consideration for those who borrow mini-mortgages to graduate from college. Like it or not, PSLF works, and it's usually the most cost-effective option to pay down your loans if you qualify.
Effective July 1, 2023, key changes have been made that each borrower needs to consider if you are currently on track for PSLF or if you will be in the future.
Before we dive into the new rules for PSLF, we want to remind you of the previous ones.
- Make 120 on-time qualifying monthly payments
- Work full-time at a nonprofit or 501(c)(3) or at least 30 hours per week at multiple qualifying employers
- Have direct federal student loans
- Make payments in a qualifying repayment program—IBR, PAYE, REPAYE, ICR or a standard 10-year repayment plan
- Complete PSLF Certification Form
#1 PSLF Certification Form Is All Electronic
To qualify for the PSLF program, there is an actual certification form that is filled out by you and signed by your employer. Previously, this was completed by you using dark ink, and it required a wet signature from your employer verifying your employment. Lastly, you faxed it to the PSLF servicer (FedLoan at the time; now MOHELA) for processing. The submission process was clunky with all the paperwork and signatures, and it could take 3-6 months (and sometimes longer) to process your form.
Now, this process can all be done 100% electronically using the PSLF help tool. The tool allows you to generate the application form through a portal that has a database of almost every nonprofit/501(c)(3) out there. To certify your employer(s), input your Employment Identification Number (EIN) and the dates you worked.
Next, the application will ask how you would like to obtain your employer's signature. You can do it “old school” by obtaining a wet signature, or you can simply send your employer an e-signature. Utilize the e-sign feature to speed up the application process. It will save you a lot of time and headaches. Give your employer a heads-up that they’ll receive an email from DocuSign on behalf of the Department of Education. After your employer signs, the form will automatically go to MOHELA for processing.
More information here:
The (Nearly) Perfect PSLF Situation for a Physician
#2 Qualifying Employment Hours Simplified
As mentioned earlier, you had to be working full-time or working at multiple qualifying employers (nonprofit or 501(c)(3)) for a minimum of 30 hours per week to reach the PSLF employment qualification. This put many borrowers in a tough position because they were working more than 30 hours per week at one employer but were not considered a full-time equivalent. In this situation, they wouldn’t have qualified for PSLF. Borrowers had to pick up another qualifying job or convert their employment to full-time to qualify.
This requirement is now changing to a flat 30 hours per week required at a nonprofit or 501(c)(3) to qualify. Borrowers no longer need to be full-time to qualify. In addition, those who work as adjunct professors can now qualify for PSLF. For each credit hour taught by an adjunct or contingent faculty, the borrower would receive 3.35 hours of work. So, you’d need to teach at least 9 credit hours to qualify.
#3 California and Texas PSLF Loophole
Included in the changes for qualifying employment is a specific situation that pertains to those who are employed in California and Texas. Generally, you need to be directly employed by a nonprofit or a 501(c)(3) to qualify. This means you need to receive a W-2 from your employer. You wouldn't qualify as an independent contractor (1099) or through a contractor that staffs the nonprofit or 501(c)(3). We commonly see this with physicians and other providers who have privileges at a nonprofit hospital but who are paid by a contractor.
California and Texas have a specific state law that prohibits many nonprofit hospitals from directly employing physicians. Physicians are commonly working at nonprofit hospitals but are actually hired by a contractor that is a private organization and that staffs physicians at nonprofit hospitals. This would not qualify you for PSLF.
But now, when you work in California and Texas in this specific arrangement and your direct employment at a nonprofit hospital is barred by state law, you can begin to qualify for PSLF. Here's a deeper dive into who qualifies and what to consider.
More information here:
Is Public Service Loan Forgiveness Worth It for Doctors?
#4 Certain Deferments and Forbearances Will Count
Deferment and forbearance never used to count for PSLF. IDR and PSLF waivers temporarily granted borrowers credit for certain periods of time in deferments and forbearances. Going forward, here are a couple of deferments and forbearances that WILL count as credit toward PSLF.
- Administrative or mandatory administrative forbearance—these are generally those pesky months when you are switching repayment plans or certifying income and your servicer has to put your account on hold
- Post-active duty
- Cancer treatment deferment
- Military service deferment
- Post-active duty student deferment
- Economic hardship deferment, which includes service in the Peace Corps—we sometimes see physicians in training eligible to qualify for this
- AmeriCorps and National Guard service forbearance
- US Department of Defense Student Loan Repayment Program forbearance
The majority of the changes are related to those in military service.
#5 Qualifying Payments in a Lump Sum
Previously, your servicer required you to make an on-time monthly payment at the required monthly payment amount. If you were to make an overpayment, part of that month’s payment would go to the following month. And if it was enough to cover the next month's payment, the servicer would go berserk and put your payment into paid ahead status. Paid ahead status was treated as forbearance, and it would halt your PSLF credit temporarily . . . lots and lots of headaches for a borrower trying to get a jump on their payments.
New regulations will allow borrowers to receive PSLF credit on late payments, installments, or in a lump sum. This resolves the paid ahead status and widespread issue for those who receive some type of loan repayment assistance program from your employer or a supporting entity like NIH, VA, NHSC, etc. However, just because you make a lump sum payment, it does not shorten your track to PSLF. You still need to work a minimum of 120 months at a qualifying employer to reach the forgiveness milestone—even if you double your payment for a month.
#6 Consolidation No Longer Erases Previous Repayment History
Typically, when you consolidated your federal student debt, all your previous repayment history was erased. That means if you consolidated after a couple years of payments, you would have to start your 10 years all over again. Way too many borrowers have done this, and they are stuck paying their loans longer than they should.
Now, instead of resetting your payment history when you consolidate, a weighted average of your existing PSLF count will be applied to the consolidation loan at the beginning. Here's an example.
In this particular situation, instead of having to make 120 payments post-dental school, this dentist would only need to make 116 because the undergraduate loans count toward the 120 payment count. It does increase the length for the undergrad loans to reach forgiveness, but it probably doesn't matter much because most will borrow more for a professional degree, like dental school, than undergrad.
Please note: if you consolidate loans with differing payment counts before January 1, 2024, you would be eligible to take the loan with the highest payment count. It will revert to the weighted average rule moving forward after January 2024.
More information here:
Paying Off Spouse’s Student Loans Together
#7 Hold Borrower Harmless Option
There generally comes a time when many borrowers will have a hard time making monthly payments and they'll have to temporarily halt payments. The hold borrower harmless option would help borrowers whose income drops to continue to qualify for PSLF. If a borrower has to enter deferment or forbearance because of a hardship and they could have stayed (or enrolled) into an income-driven plan with a required monthly payment of $0, they would still be eligible to receive credit for PSLF. Very little context or scenarios have been given for this new regulation. We will continue to update you as more information becomes available.
All of these changes should help move borrowers toward reaching their forgiveness milestone. More and more borrowers will enroll into PSLF as it now captures a wider range of borrowers. If you make less than what you owe in federal student loans, PSLF should strongly be considered. It is less of a consideration for those who make the same as you owe or more. However, we’ve still seen cases where PSLF can drop the overall cost of your loans either way.
If you need help navigating PSLF, the application process, the back and forth with your servicer, or putting the final touches on your application before you qualify, don’t hesitate to contact us at StudentLoanAdvice.com. We’ve helped many borrowers succeed and reach PSLF. Don’t go it alone when there’s the potential to save yourself hundreds of thousands of dollars.
What do you think about these PSLF changes? Do these changes impact your eligibility for Public Service Loan Forgiveness? Are you closer to having your loans discharged now? Comment below!
Whoa so those of us who want to work at a Kaiser can qualify for PSLF now?
James,
That’s what the current ruling says. Still waiting on final word for how everyone is supposed to verify employment. We will update this post as soon as we have it.
Andrew SLA
Thanks for the post Andrew. When you use the PSLF help tool, the Permanent Medical group (TPMG), the physician group for Kaiser Northern California, still shows up as ineligible. So I’m curious how in the world you go about certified with eligibility. Looking forward to the update on how this is done
MMR,
You need to put in your qualifying employer where you actually work (the nonprofit) into the PSLF help tool to certify you employment, not KP.
Andrew SLA
MMR, had the same experience using Permanente’s id with the PSLF helptool. Is there a different ID you are using? Im an MD for Kaiser in San Diego. Would be very surprised if this worked.
RC,
You would need to input the EIN at the nonprofit hospital where you work.
Andrew SLA
Did you see Kaiser’s update? They sent broad communication to the physicians with specific steps to apply including the EIN (I believe it is KFH).
AP,
Yes. You submit the information for KFH to apply for PSLF.
Andrew SLA
But, only for those working in CA or TX, correct? For all medical professionals working under this common arrangement – non-profit health care organization, but for-profit direct employer – in other states we still cannot apply those months and years of employment toward PSLF, correct? I work for Kaiser in Washington state and the realization that none of my work would count toward PSLF was a real bummer. I go back and forth about leaving for a job that will “count.”
Sarah,
Correct, only CA & TX.
Andrew SLA
Do we know if eligibility in CA was extended to other licensed providers in this situation (PAs, NPs, RNs)?
I’m sure it was. PSLF isn’t doctor specific.
Any thoughts as to how lump sum payments paid during Covid could apply? Knew I couldn’t do full time work for 10 years so wasn’t planning on PSLF but 30 hour requirement is very reasonable. Made a few payments during Covid and would love to see those count in some way if able?
You get credit for all the COVID non-payments, but there’s nothing extra for actually making payments of any kind during the “3.5 year COVID emergency period”.
Rachel,
To piggyback off of WCI, for now assume you need to have employment prior to July 1 2023 that qualified for the older PSLF regulations. I.e. full-time employment or 30 hours p/wk at multiple qualifying employers. Going forward they would consider 30 hours at one qualifying employer (full-time or part-time) as qualifying.
Great summary, thanks for putting it together. I have made 120 qualifying payments (122 actually), for my final PSLF certification and am awaiting further news 😀
I found the process incredibly straight forward and easy especially with the new help tools. The mohela agents were always nothing but helpful and informative and really are on our side (at least that was my experience).
I did a long training (5 years of general surgery, 2 years in the lab+getting a masters and a 15 month fellowship). My first attending job was at a qualifying organization. They have literally 1000’s of employers that they’ve already “vetted” and that does make the process very easy for most.
in an era where we are very quick to criticize most things, I wanted readers to know that I thought the process was more than reasonable. Under the special waiver, a few of my payments that previously did not count, counted which was so lucky! (and also why I didn’t realize I crossed the line sooner than I originally calculated)!
I do want to add to Mr. Paulson’s excellent summary that grace periods and periods spent in school will not change payment counts, even if you pay. I made loan payments while getting my masters degree because I didn’t understand those would not be counted. Those are automatic forbearance no matter which PSLF rules you follow. That was “money down the drain” if you’re pursuing PSLF. Don’t make my mistake 🙂
What a difference 5-10 years makes in user experience. It’s fascinating to juxtapose what was happening to people before these servicers and the DoE got their act together. I told people they would eventually so I’m glad I could prove prophetic on that point.
You CAN make payments in school. You don’t have to defer/forebear. But they won’t count toward PSLF because you’re not working full time for a 501(c)3.
They asked if I wanted to pause my payments while I was in-school or go straight forbearance and I chose to pay and it all counted. In December 2022 and March 2023, I received verification that $449,000 worth of student loans were removed.
This included loans that are so far gone I’d forgotten about them. The waiver made it completely worth it.
Best gift ever…!!!!
You know it’s really interesting because I was STILL employed full time as a lab resident. Surgeons, ya know. I went to school full time and was employed full time and yet it did not count towards my 120 payments. C’est la vie.
Very nice for Glenda above- so great they counted your payments while in school. And congratulations on your forgiven amount!!! Hope I can join your club soon!
I do not think that’s going to be the norm for most people so that’s a time to be careful surrounding PSLF repayment (while in school).
Puja,
Full-time work while in medschool! Now that’s something you don’t hear everyday. For those in medschool who can do this you could start potentially start the clock sooner for loans previous to medschool and those you’re currently borrowing. You’ll just have to let your servicer know you want to stay in repayment while in school.
Andrew SLA
And make sure you perform well enough to match. That matters more than getting PSLF earlier.
I want to be super duper clear. I was not working full time while in med school. That’s crazy. Please don’t do this to yourself. I worked full time as a LAB/research resident while getting a master’s degree full time. Very different things.
I am seeing new language in the revised PSLF guidance that states you do not have to be at a qualifying employer at the time FORGIVENESS is granted by FSA. You only need to be at a qualifying employer at the time of APPLICATION. This potentially eliminates the need to wait up to a year extra trapped working for government employer while your PSLF is processed. If anyone has any further information on this please comment below.
Max,
This was the case during the PSLF waiver period which expired in October 2022. I don’t believe that’s the case currently. It’s my understanding you have to stay at a qualifying employer until forgiveness is issued. If you have a source please cite it so we can update the post.
Andrew SLA
If you review the amendments to 685.219 in effect on 7/10/23 they have removed “(C) At the time the remaining principal and accrued interest are forgiven.”
The new language is as follows:
“(c) Borrower eligibility.
(1) A borrower may obtain loan forgiveness under this program if the borrower—
(i) Is not in default on the loan at the time forgiveness is requested;
(ii) Is employed full-time by a qualifying employer or serving in a full-time AmeriCorps or Peace Corps position—
(A) When the borrower satisfied the 120 monthly payments described under paragraph (c)(1)(iii) of this section; and
(B) At the time the borrower applies for forgiveness under paragraph (e) of this section; and
(iii) Satisfies the equivalent of 120 monthly payments after October 1, 2007, as described in paragraph (c)(2) of this section, on eligible Direct loans.”
This amendment coupled with the new application form that does not cite the need to remain employed at the time of discharge appears to remove the requirement that one is required to remain employed at a qualifying employer through the date of forgiveness.
Christy,
Thank you. At the time of forgiveness you still need to be at a qualifying employer to receive PSLF.
Andrew SLA
I worked nearly 6 years at a qualifying hospital. But have recently stopped due to high risk pregnancy and medical condition of my daughter but do plan to go back to work eventually. Will my 6 years count towards forgiveness if I continue to make my payments and stay in good standing until I start working again? Thank you
Asha,
Correct. Your six years of credit will remain while you take time off. When you pick up qualifying employment again you would have four years to hit forgiveness.
Andrew SLA
I have been at my job 9 years next year 10, I have a student loan for 12 thousand when I started school in 2010 but I didn’t finish. I recently did PSLF application and had HR sign there signature I did mail and faxed the form but it didn’t count because I didn’t make 120 payments, but I remember paying on the loan which was around $900, how can I find if that money was even counted. I work 40 hours a week. Also do I need do another PSLF since the rules are changing. Lastly do I have a chance that my loan will be forgiven one day in the future. Thanks for listening
Roberta,
Sounds like you could benefit from a meeting with us. https://studentloanadvice.com/book
Andrew SLA
Do we need to recertify our qualifying employer annually? I looked on Mohela and the period that counted with my qualifying employer ended last year despite my continued employment. I’m grateful for the PSLF and the new changes are welcome.
Trena,
It’s not a requirement but highly recommended to stay current with PSLF. You won’t receive credit for those months until MOHELA receives your most up to date form.
Andrew SLA
I just had loans forgotten via PSLF through Mohela and still have some remaining. I saw the update that consolidated loans would get the number of payments of the highest payment count of the bunch, so I called Mohela to verify that if I consolidated that that would mean that I would get all of my student loans forgiven (highest count was 144 payments, lowest was 8 because I went back to school). Mohela said that would have only been the case if I consolidated before submitting the paperwork last year. They said if I consolidated in April of this year that that would restart my counter at 0 for all consolidated loans. Thus, I didn’t consolidate, and those loans with 144 payments were forgiven a few days after that call, and I still have the loans with 8 qualifying payments.
Was I mislead by Mohela about my count restarting at zero? Is there anything I can do about it now that my loans with over 120 payments have all been forgiven?
Thanks in advance.
Patric,
This is unfortunate because you were 100% misled by the representative. This happens way too often. Sometimes the rep can help and sometimes they lead you down the wrong path.
Had you consolidated your loans, you would have been credited the loan with the longest payment history and been eligible for forgiveness on all of your loans. This is due to the IDR waiver (https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/idr-waiver-who-qualifies/) that expires in December this year. To remediate the mistake by your servicer i’d recommend filing a complaint with the student loan ombudsman.
https://studentaid.gov/feedback-ombudsman/disputes/prepare
Andrew SLA
Do you know she the spousal consolidation loans will be eligible for splitting so I can qualify for a direct loan? My understanding is that our loan is one of only 700 and therefore we are stuck in limbo even though we have enough qualifying payments for PSLF.
Thanks!
Hi Christine,
I don’t know if spousal consolidation loans will be considered for this. I know it’s something they are working on but it doesn’t specify spousal consolidation loans as eligible for this new consolidation rule.
Andrew SLA
It helped some but it sure would be nice if it was retro. I worked for a state agency from 98-2015 and missed out on forgiveness by 49 payments
JB,
Nothing prior to October 2007 will count for PSLF. Sounds like you should have more like 7-8 years of payments. You can also look into taxable forgiveness though as it is current tax free. That takes 20-25 years of payments to reach.
Andrew SLA
Hi, does deferment/forbearance during residency count under new changes? I wasn’t able to make payments during those 3 years and either put them in deferment or forbearance, cant remember which. Thanks
Patrick Avanessian,
It depends. You have to meet either of these two criteria
Forbearances of 12 consecutive months or longer OR more than 36 months in total.
This does not include the covid forbearance/pause that will count as long as you have qualifying employment.
Andrew SLA
I had been denied PSLF when I had completed 10 years of public service a number of years ago. I took advantage of the recent changes in the program and finally got my remaining loan amount forgiven. However, in the meantime I overpaid more than $20,000. Is there any chance I can be reimbursed for the overpayment?
Lori Delagramatikas,
If you made more than 120 payments on direct loans you should be refunded any months you paid beyond 120. If you had FFEL loans and recently consolidated those to direct to qualify, then this money would not be refunded back to you.
Andrew SLA
I received PSLF on some of my loans earlier this year- the forgiveness I received related to my bachelors. I was 8 payments short for my masters loans. I completed 10.5 months of AmeriCorps during which time my loans were in forebearance. With the new rules am I correct in understanding that I could receive credit for those 10 payments even though I wasn’t making an actual payment?
This is for all your help!
Kjerstin,
If it was only 10 months of forbearance no. You need 12 months consecutively or a minimum of 36 months cumulatively for forbearance to qualify. If this time was actually economic hardship deferment, then this would qualify.
Andrew SLA
Thank you for the update. I do not see mandatory forbearance listed as eligible under the new permanent changes. So, while periods of mandatory forbearance for residents were eligible under the PSLF waiver, they are not eligible under the permanent changes. Is this right? This makes a bid difference for many of us thinking through options for the repayment restart.
Thanks,
Scott
Hi Scott,
It is listed as the first bullet point in this section : #4 Certain Deferments and Forbearances Will Count
But, the thing about mandatory forbearance is in the past they were very loose with this and now I think they are going to enforce this more because in the past there was lots of forbearance steering because it benefitted the servicer to have borrowers with larger balances and in repayment for longer.
Andrew SLA
Thank! It seems too good to be true. Residents and fellows can pay nothing on their loans through their training and still have all those periods count towards PSLF. Some specialities could get people close to the ten year mark just in training alone. Amazing!
Scott
Yea, it’s a pretty generous benefit. Take advantage while you can and think about that as you pay all your taxes the rest of your career.
I haven’t had to recertify my income during this entire COVID forbearance period. When are we going to be required to recertify income?
Also, can you please clarify how the lump sum payments work? How many months at a time can you make a lump sum payment for and will Mohela and the DOE automatically calculate the number of months or will we need to specify that we would like to make a lump sum to count for multiple payments?
Hopefulborrower,
You’ll probably have to certify around Summer 2024 since nobody will have to certify for at least six months after payments start in October.
You can make a lump sum payment up to your next certification date. If that’s six months away you could lump sum for six months. If that’s twelve months away then you could lump sum for 12 months. You should give MOHELA a call before you make a lump sum payment to ensure this is processed correctly.
Andrew SLA
Do Parent Plus loans qualify? I thought this program wouldn’t apply in my case but some of the details in your article are making me second guess that. I have 60k in loans and have been working for a 501c3 for 8 years. Recently began making monthly payments and plan to pay more than the amount due each month. Is it necessary to pay the 120 monthly payments over the full 10 years or can the 120 payments be paid in a shorter amount of time e.g. 2 years?
They count for the parents.
Do we need to fill out any forms or resend ECFs to get prior months counted that were denied initially under forced administrative forbearance? I have several months lost where bills weren’t sent waiting for paperwork to be processed when switching between qualifying payments plans. Other lost for PSLF waiting when recertifying annually. These months should now count after July 1, 2023?
Hi Kelly,
You shouldn’t have to resend any ECF forms, but I would. Just to make sure you’re dotting the i’s and crossing your t’s.
These months should count and you’ll probably see this on your repayment history as “qualified – special waiver”.
Andrew SLA
How do submit our time spent during residency. Typically took economic deferment all five years. This time is not being counted towards my payment total.
Hi Daniel Schroyer,
You need to make sure your PSLF certifications forms are all up to date. After you’ve done that, as part of the One-Time Account Adjustment, they are reviewing every borrower account for periods of time that will qualify under the special waiver. Such as economic deferment. I wrote more detail about this in an earier post you should read. https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/idr-waiver-who-qualifies/
Andrew SLA
How do submit our time spent during residency. Typically took economic deferment all five years. This time is not being counted towards my payment total.
Daniel,
Complete your PSLF form and they will look at your application and credit you the months you were at a qualifying employer.
Andrew SLA
Thanks for this post, Andrew. I’m a physician at a Kaiser in California and learning of these potential eligibility changes may have saved me a ton of money in loan repayments, as I was just about to refinance before seeing this post.
I don’t think this specific question was addressed in the post nor asked yet re: deferment periods. After graduating medical school and beginning residency, I was placed in the automatic 6-month payment deferment (despite the fact that my IDR would have been $0) and thus were not counted as eligible towards PSLF. Strangely, 2 months are now counting under the special waiver, but 4 months are not. Based on your knowledge, should all these 6 months be counted under the special waiver towards PSLF?
Thanks so much,
Travis
Travis,
Those 4-6 months are grace period and they will not count towards the 120 even under the special waivers.
Andrew SLA
Andrew SLA,
Thank you for this excellent update. My partner works at KP in Southern California, and paid off commercially held FFEL loans with a lump sum during the pandemic in October 2021. Any chance he would be eligible for a refund of those student loans from the commercial lender that held the FFEL loans, so that the loans can be consolidated into Direct loans with Mohela. If so, he could apply for PSLF due to this new rule. I suspect this is not likely possible.
Additionally, is it true that residency/fellowship years prior to 2007 would not count towards PSLF using this TX/CA ruling?
Thank you
TJ,
If they are 100% paid off then no. Unfortunately, FFEL loans don’t allow for refunds like direct have during the covid pause.
Any repayment history prior to October 2007 does not count for PSLF.
Andrew SLA
I have worked at Kaiser (TPMG) Northern California for 14 years. I dropped from full time down to 60 percent schedule after about 6 months. I easily work more than 30 hours per week in the job. It’s probably closer to 50-60 hours/week. Can I still apply? I have been making regular payments this entire time but not the full amount initially. On about $150K I was at first paying about $350 month. In the past 5 years or so I have been paying $1000 per month plus extra towards principal. I still owe
$20, 500. I really appreciate your extremely helpful article and advice. Thank you!
Hi Sylvia Jones,
You should definitely apply.
Andrew SLA
The instructions for the PSLF form say:
Full-Time employment, for PSLF purposes, means working 30 or more
hours per week on average for the employment period on the form
regardless of whether the employer considers that Full-Time for other
purposes. Working less than 30 hours per week on average is considered
Part-Time. When determining if a borrower is Full-Time, an employer must
include all hours, including vacation, leave time, or any leave taken under
the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993. However, do not include time spent
performing volunteer services.
So I think you’re good.
I worked as a pcp for a medical group similar to Kaiser from 2020-2023. I thought I will never get pslf so I didn’t send any certification forms after graduating from residency.
I initially worked full time (35 patient contact hours per Week but really closer to 50-60 hrs per week total work) from 2020/2021 but dropped to 0.83 fte (29 patient contact hours per week which was closer to 40. Hrs per week total work) from 2022-mid 2023.
Will my time from 2022-2023 not count due to the technicality of how “full time” was defined at my former job? I definitely worked more than 30 hrs per week throughout my entire time as a pcp!!
Thanks much for your help!
PCP2Hospitalist,
I don’t know if the full-time employment requirement is retroactive from July 1, 2023. Were you ever full-time during that period? Regardless, you should send your forms to have them signed.
Andrew SLA
I was full time from 2020 – 2021. I believe those months should count for sure. I’m not sure about 2022 -2023 when I dropped to part-time at 0.83 (=29 patient contact hours but more time for paperwork and admin work totaled up over the week) but I guess I’ll find out.
I submitted the forms to them but I used the EIN for the group instead of for the 501c3 organization. Should I resubmit using the EIN for the non profit side of things? How does one go about finding out the EIN for the non profit side of things?
Thanks
PCP2Hospitalist,
There’s a good chance you’ll get at least a year. You need to fill out the certification form for the qualifying institution (nonprofit hospital) where you worked. aka, add their EIN, dates you worked there, signature by a representative there.
Andrew SLA
I have worked in a not-for-profit since 2009. I consolidated my loans with Mohela (now Sofi). Was denied loan forgiveness in the past. Do I qualify with the new regulations?
No. Once you refinance into private loans your loans no longer qualify for federal programs like IDR and PSLF.
Hi,
I have about 6.8 years qualified. When will we know about the SCPMG qualifications for sure?
And who do we send the form to for a signature?
Thanks so much!!!
Bp
Bp,
Not sure. I’m not internal there. You should ask your HR department about updates. TPMG is on the ball and already has the EINs and everything set up to begin qualifying now.
The signature is to be signed by the qualifying employer. As an example if where you have privileges is a nonprofit hospital and you’re paid by Kaiser, it would be the organization that actually qualifies.
Andrew SLA
BP,
I also work at SCPMG. I don’t believe HR has set up the process yet, and I too am eagerly waiting. My department chief forwarded me some info from admin last week that basically says they are working on the process…
-Travis
Hi Travis,
Thank you! Hopefully it all works out for us!!
I’m a physician at Kaiser in California.
Has anyone read the California Medical Association document on the requirements for loan qualification?
https://www.cmadocs.org/Portals/CMA/files/public/PSLF%202023%20-%20What%20California%20Physicians%20Need%20to%20Know.pdf?ver=2023-07-12-102942-047
The CMA document above states that a physician has to have “one direct consolidated government loan”, implying multiple loans are not allowed. Yet later in the document under the consolidation section, it says consolidation is not required.
Which is it? Do we have to consolidate multiple existing DIRECT loans (which are the only loans I have) into a single direct consolidated loan, in order to qualify for ongoing PSLF with the new contractor exemption?
Since I already have 8 separate direct federal loans that already HAVE counted towards PSLF, it seems odd that they would no longer qualify, but the CMA pdf seems to indicate that to qualify, loans MUST be consolidated. I emailed the CMA and a representative confirmed this sentiment, which doesn’t feel accurate, but I also don’t want to miss this- I’m not sure if something in the new rule makes it mandatory to consolidate in this situation to count towards PSLF or not.
Thanks!
Hi Travis,
Yes, of course.
If you have direct federal student loans you would qualify. This consolidation stuff would only pertain to those who have FFEL loans and are trying to become eligible for forgiveness by consolidating their loans.
Andrew SLA
Got it, thanks Andrew. The verbiage of the document with respect to consolidation to a single direct loan reads very oddly to someone who has multiple direct federal loans.
You are very helpful, as always.
-Travis