Public Service Loan Forgiveness Waiver Means You May Qualify Now

Student loans can be a big expense, especially for legal services employees, but there are some programs available that may help reduce that expense. Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) is one of the biggest options. The program initially went into effect on October 1, 2007, and there have been some challenges in qualifying since that time. Fortunately, there is currently a waiver of some of the program requirements, which makes many more people eligible. That means now is a great time to see if you are eligible and take steps to qualify for PSLF.

To qualify for PSLF:

1) You must be employed by a U.S. federal, state, local or tribal government or not-for-profit organization — if you work at a Minnesota based legal services program funded by LSAC, it’s almost certain that you meet this requirement.

2) Work full-time for that agency or organization (this usually means at least 30 hours per week, but check the studentaid.gov site for more information).

3) Have Direct Loans or consolidate other federal student loans into a Direct Loan (during the limited waiver, you may be able to consolidate previously ineligible federal loans including FFEL or Perkins loans into a Direct Loan to qualify).

4) Be in the right repayment plan — which means an income driven repayment plan. This requirement is waived through October 31, 2022 as part of the limited waiver.

5) Make 120 qualifying payments (essentially 10 years).

To learn more about the temporary waiver, and what specifically is changed, see the Student Aid website: PSLF Waiver Offers Way to Get Closer to Loan Forgiveness | Federal Student Aid.

As part of making sure our community is aware of this program, State Support has created a page of resources to put the key information about PSLF in one place. You can find that page at www.mnlegalservices.org/pslf. This includes a recording of the January 11, 2022, training with Dee Baskin, executive director of Loan Repayment Assistance Program of Minnesota (LRAP-MN), and Heather Vlieger of Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid (MMLA), talking about the PSLF and LRAP programs.