GradFin FAQs for PSLF
Stay in compliance on your "Qualified Payments" for Public Service Loan Forgiveness
GradFin PSLF Membership
What is the GradFin pslf membership
THE GRADFIN PSLF MEMBERSHIP WAS DESIGNED TO KEEP PSLF-ELIGIBLE STUDENT LOAN BORROWERS IN COMPLIANCE WITH PSLF DURING THE 10 YEARS LEADING UP TO
FORGIVENESS. SOME OF THE REASONS BORROWERS GET DENIED PSLF IS DUE TO ERROR FROM MISSING INFORMATION ON EMPLOYER CERTIFICATION FORMS, BORROWERS APPLY FOR FORGIVENESS BEFORE THEY HAVE ENOUGH QUALIFYING PAYMENTS OR THE BORROWER DID NOT WORK FOR AN ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER OR HAVE ELIGIBLE LOANS TYPES. GRADFIN RECORDS QUALIFYING PAYMENTS, MATCHES EMPLOYER AND BORROWER ELIGIBILITY TO QUALIFY PAYMENTS, AND PRESENTS CASES TO FEDLOAN IF THE PAYMENTS ARE NOT APPROPRIATELY COUNTED. THROUGH GRADFIN STUDENT LOAN CONSULTATIONS, OUR PSLF EXPERTS GATHER INFORMATION ON EACH BORROWER TO AVOID MAKING MISTAKES NOW IN ORDER TO QUALIFY FOR FORGIVENESS IN THE FUTURE.
FORGIVENESS. SOME OF THE REASONS BORROWERS GET DENIED PSLF IS DUE TO ERROR FROM MISSING INFORMATION ON EMPLOYER CERTIFICATION FORMS, BORROWERS APPLY FOR FORGIVENESS BEFORE THEY HAVE ENOUGH QUALIFYING PAYMENTS OR THE BORROWER DID NOT WORK FOR AN ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER OR HAVE ELIGIBLE LOANS TYPES. GRADFIN RECORDS QUALIFYING PAYMENTS, MATCHES EMPLOYER AND BORROWER ELIGIBILITY TO QUALIFY PAYMENTS, AND PRESENTS CASES TO FEDLOAN IF THE PAYMENTS ARE NOT APPROPRIATELY COUNTED. THROUGH GRADFIN STUDENT LOAN CONSULTATIONS, OUR PSLF EXPERTS GATHER INFORMATION ON EACH BORROWER TO AVOID MAKING MISTAKES NOW IN ORDER TO QUALIFY FOR FORGIVENESS IN THE FUTURE.
what is the benefit of the gradfin pslf membership
GRADFIN RECENTLY LAUNCHED AN ONLINE MEMBER PORTAL, WHERE PSLF DOCUMENTS AND HISTORICAL PAYMENTS ARE STORED. AS WELL, YOU CAN RE-CERTIFY EMPLOYMENT AND SEARCH THROUGH OUR FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION PAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON PSLF. WITH OUR MEMBERSHIP, MEMBERS RECEIVE ONE-ON-ONE SUPPORT WITH OUR PSLF MANAGERS AND A GRADFIN GIFT UPON ANNUAL EMPLOYER RE-CERTIFICATION. TO STAY UPDATED ON PSLF IN THE NEWS, WE OFFER MEMBERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO READ-UP ON PSLF THROUGH OUR MEMBER-ONLY BLOG. IF THERE ARE ANY ISSUES WITH FEDLOAN, WE FACILITATE CALLS WITH YOU AND FEDLOAN TO DEMONSTRATE TRANSPARENCY THROUGHOUT THE PSLF PROCESS. LASTLY, WE GRANT A BOTTLE OF CHAMPAGNE FOR EACH MEMBER UPON FORGIVENESS!
WHAT IS THE PROCESS OF PSLF
1) CONSULTATION WITH A GRADFIN STUDENT LOAN EXPERT
2) DETERMINE PSLF ELIGIBILITY
3) COLLECT NECESSARY DOCUMENTATION
4) SEND TO FEDLOAN SERVICING AND AWAIT QUALIFIED PAYMENT APPROVAL
2) DETERMINE PSLF ELIGIBILITY
3) COLLECT NECESSARY DOCUMENTATION
4) SEND TO FEDLOAN SERVICING AND AWAIT QUALIFIED PAYMENT APPROVAL
PSLF PAYMENTS
WHAT ARE CONSIDERED QUALIFIED REPAYMENT PLANS
QUALIFYING REPAYMENT PLANS ARE REVISED PAY AS YOU EARN (REPAYE) PLAN, THE PAY AS YOU EARN (PAYE) PLAN, THE INCOME-BASED REPAYMENT (IBR) PLAN, THE INCOME-CONTINGENT REPAYMENT (ICR) PLAN, THE STANDARD REPAYMENT PLAN WITH A MAXIMUM 10-YEAR REPAYMENT PERIOD, AND ANY OTHER DIRECT LOAN REPAYMENT PLAN IF PAYMENTS ARE AT LEAST EQUAL TO THE MONTHLY PAYMENT AMOUNT THAT WOULD BE REQUIRED UNDER THE STANDARD REPAYMENT PLAN WITH A 10-YEAR REPAYMENT PERIOD.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE INCOME-DRIVEN REPAYMENT PLANS
WHAT ARE CONSIDERED QUALIFIED PAYMENTS
QUALIFYING PAYMENTS ARE SEPARATE, ON-TIME, FULL MONTHLY PAYMENTS MADE ON AN ELIGIBLE LOAN AFTER OCTOBER 1, 2007 UNDER A QUALIFYING REPAYMENT PLAN WHILE EMPLOYED FULL-TIME BY A QUALIFYING EMPLOYER. AN ON-TIME PAYMENT IS A PAYMENT MADE NO MORE THAN 15 DAYS AFTER THE DUE DATE FOR THE PAYMENT. ELIGIBLE LOANS ARE LOANS MADE UNDER THE WILLIAM D. FORD FEDERAL DIRECT LOAN (DIRECT LOAN) PROGRAM THAT ARE NOT IN DEFAULT.
PSLF PAYMENTS
1. What are considered qualified repayment plans?
Qualifying repayment plans are Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) plan, the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) plan, the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan, the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan, the Standard Repayment plan with a maximum 10-year repayment period, and any other Direct Loan repayment plan if payments are at least equal to the monthly payment amount that would be required under the Standard Repayment plan with a 10-year repayment period.
2. What is the difference between the income-driven repayment plans?
Click this hyperlink to visit frequently asked questions regarding income-driven plans.
3. What are considered qualified payments?
Qualifying payments are separate, on-time, full monthly payments made on an eligible loan after October 1, 2007 under a qualifying repayment plan while employed full-time by a qualifying employer. An on-time payment is a payment made no more than 15 days after the due date for the payment. Eligible loans are loans made under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program that are not in default.
4. What loans are considered qualified?
Only Direct Loan Program loans that are not in default are eligible for PSLF. Loans you received under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, the Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins Loan) Program, or any other student loan program are not eligible for PSLF. If you have FFEL Program or Perkins Loan Program loans, you may consolidate them into a Direct Consolidation Loan to take advantage of PSLF. However, payments made on your FFEL Program or Perkins Loan Program loans before you consolidated them, even if they were made under a qualifying repayment plan, do not count as qualifying PSLF payments. In addition, if you made qualifying payments on a Direct Loan and then consolidate it into a Direct Consolidation Loan, you must start over making qualifying payments on the new Direct Consolidation Loan.
5. Are Stafford loans qualified loans?
If you consolidate that loan type into a Direct Consolidation Loan, you can then repay the consolidation loan under the income-driven plan. For example, only Direct Loans can be repaid under the REPAYE, PAYE, and ICR plans. However, if you consolidate a FFEL Program Loan or Federal Perkins Loan into a Direct Consolidation Loan, you may then be able to repay the Direct Consolidation Loan under the REPAYE, PAYE, and ICR Plan (depending on the type of loan that you consolidate). Note that consolidation is not the right choice for all borrowers or all loan types.
How much of my current balance will be forgiven?
If you qualify for forgiveness, the remaining balance on your Direct Loans will be forgiven.
6. How many qualified payments do I need to make before I can apply for forgiveness?
120 qualified monthly payments, which add up to 10 years of qualified monthly payments.
7. Can I prepay on the monthly payments for PSLF?
No. Under current law, paying the minimum amount is required under your repayment plan counts towards the qualified monthly payments and you are not required to pay more than the minimum in order for the payments to be considered qualifying payments.
8. If I make a payment less than the minimum monthly payment, does it count as a qualified payment?
If you make a payment that is less than what you are required to pay for that month, that month's payment will not count as one of the required 120 qualifying payments. If you make multiple, partial payments in a month and the total of those partial payments equals or exceeds the required full monthly payment amount, those payments will count as one qualifying payment.
9. Can I make qualified monthly payments when my loans are not in repayment?
No. Scheduled payments are those that are made while you are in repayment. They do not include payments made while your loans are in an in-school or grace status, or in a deferment or forbearance period.
10. If I make a lump-sum payment on my loans that exceeds the minimum monthly payment, will that count for several monthly payments?
No. Payments you make as advance payments for future months do not count as more than one qualifying payment. If you want to pay more than your scheduled monthly payment amount, follow the instructions on your bill to let your servicer know that your payment is not intended to cover future installments. Otherwise, you may not receive credit for future qualifying payments.
11. Do the qualifying payments need to be consecutive?
No. The law states that borrowers need to make 120 "separate" qualifying payments, THEREFORE borrowers can leave the public service and then come back into the public service later in their career. As long as you make 120 separate qualifying payments, then you qualify for PSLF.
PSLF EMPLOYMENT
1. What types of employers are eligible for PSLF?
A Qualifying employer includes the government, a not for-profit organization that is tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or a private not-for profit organization that provides public services. Serving in an AmeriCorps or Peace Corps position is also qualifying employment. Government includes a Federal, State, local or Tribal government organization, agency or entity; a public child or family service agency; or a Tribal college or university.
2. What is considered a private not-for-profit organization?
A private not-for-profit organization is an organization that is not organized for profit, is not a labor union, is not a partisan political organization, and provides at least one of the following public services as its primary purpose: (1) emergency management, (2) military service, (3) public safety, (4) law enforcement, (5) public interest legal services, (6) early childhood education, (7) public service for individuals with disabilities and the elderly, (8) public health, (9) public education, (10) public library services, (11) school library services, or (12) other school-based
3. Can I be a part-time employee of an eligible organization and qualify for PSLF?
No. You have to be a full-time employee, which equates working at least 30 hours per week or, work for a contractual or employment period of at least 8 months, an average of 30 hours per week and be working full-time when you apply for PSLF.
4. an you work for multiple PSLF-eligible employers?
You can work for multiple PSLF-eligible employers and be eligible to apply for PSLF if the amount of hours worked across all employers sums up to full-time hours of at least 30 hours per week or more.
CONsolidation
1. If I consolidate my loans into direct loans, would my previous payments count towards the 120 qualifying payments?
No. The first payment of 120 qualifying payments would start after your loans become direct loans.
2. I consolidated my loans into FedLoan but have not heard back on how to log in to my account?
The consolidation process takes between 30-60 days. You can set up your account by going to www.myfedloan.org. After you set up your account you can login to review the first due date on your loan. After you make your first payment, you can change the due date on any day of the month between the 1st and 28th
I had not included my Perkins loan in my direct consolidation loan due to an alert when I was consolidating that doing so would lose certain benefits of the Perkins loan.
3. Do you recommend adding it to my consolidation loan?
Yes, we would recommend adding the Perkins loan to the consolidation so that it can transfer into a direct loan. It is currently not a direct loan and that is the only way for it to count as a qualifying payment.
OTHER
1. What are the reasons people get denied forgiveness?
According to the Department of Education, 53% percent of borrowers are not receiving forgiveness because they do not have enough qualifying payments. Other reasons borrowers were not receiving forgiveness were missing information (25%), loans were not eligible (16%), the borrower has ineligible employment dates (2%) or the employer was not eligible (2%).
2. What if I move out of the country and work for a non-profit?
The payments made on your student loans during that time are not considered qualifying payments and will not count towards the 120 qualifying payments for PSLF.
GradFin PSLF Membership Benefits
Review and Enrollment
GradFin reviews your eligibility for the PSLF program and helps to enroll your monthly student loan payments to count as "qualified payments".
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Annual Certification and Audits
GradFin meets annually with members to ensure your "qualified payments" are in compliance with Department of Education laws.
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Statements and Reminders
GradFin keeps records of "qualified payments" statements in your document locker and sends reminders to members on annual PSLF renewal.
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Our Experts are Ready to Assist You
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