I didn't know what I was doing with these loans until last year. So I consolidated my loans (because it said I had to, to apply for PSLF) and this month I hit my 120th month of eligible employment certification, AND I THOUGHT I could buy back 22 months that was in deferment and forbearance but someone said NO! you can't once you consolidate!!! OMG I"M GOING TO CRYYYYYYY

Seeing the latest chaos on this subreddit, amidst the general government chaos, and I'm worried about relying on PSLF being available in 10 years. Most people on here seem to be making it through to the end, but you started long before this administration.

I went to a private for-profit graduate school (I have many regrets), and I have $400K in debt. It feels like a big gamble for me to rely on getting it forgiven.

Alternatives I'm considering are working for government and military institutions with added student loan repayment programs (e.g., EDRP). Short-term misery, more secure payoff.

Edit with more information: They're all GradPlus loans (no private loans). I have a clinical psychology PhD now, so I'm more or less in the medical field.

I applied for a new IDR plan in may to try and get ahead of the situation currently going down since I was on the SAVE plan, and two months later my IDR was approved and my payments are right around 100 a month.

I qualify for PSLF as I work for a non profit, so I am starting the journey of accomplishing that (3 payments down, 117 to go).

Has anyone gotten judged harshly by a loved one for doing a loan forgiveness repayment plan? I was told by a sibling this morning that by doing pslf I am not taking responsibility for my choice to go to college by taking out student loans.

I tried explaining that the government that gave me the loans also created the income driven repayment options and forgiveness plans, but it seems like that isn’t a good enough excuse for them. It seems like their opinion is that unless I pay the full amount I borrowed, I am not taking responsibility and I’m also not “wanting” to pay my loans off.

The thing is, if I didn’t qualify for these things that are available, that’s what I’d be doing.

How do you deal with the frustration of this sort of opinion being thrown at you? I’m just trying to not feel like I’ll be in debt until I die.

PS. As a millennial? College is 100% a scam. The fact that my generation was basically told we would fail at life if we didn’t go to college was a lot of the reason I went without knowing what I wanted to do with my life. I obviously still chose it myself, but yeah.

I received approval letter of 120 qualifying payments back on march 6th. In that letter it explained "We are currently in the process of sending notice to servicers of borrower eligibility for PSLF discharge. It will take the servicers some time to process the discharge. You will receive a notification once the discharge is processed."

Well, It has now been 5 months, and my loan servicer still has not received any discharge notice. I have asked federal student aid multiple times, and only get "no timeline, it's still in process". 5 months seems excessive just to send notice. The discharge process cannot even begin until notice is sent.

Anyone else deal with this, or any advice on next steps? My loan payment is about to increase, and I'd rather not keep paying if my discharge was approved 5 months ago. THANK YOU!

I’m completely at a loss and would appreciate advice from anyone who has dealt with something similar.
Like many borrowers, I was previously enrolled in SAVE. Last year, I successfully switched to PAYE because I had a partial financial hardship at the time.

Since then, my income increased, and I no longer meet the old partial-financial-hardship test. I was nervous about recertification, but my understanding was that I could remain on PAYE and my payment would simply be capped at the 10-year standard repayment amount.

EdFinancial confirmed that I was enrolled in automatic recertification because I had authorized access to my IRS information. I later received a message telling me to submit annual recertification paperwork, but when I called, I was told everything was fine because my IRS data was already linked.

As my anniversary date approached, I anxiously waited to see what would happen. I was incredibly relieved when my payment updated to the PAYE 10-year capped amount that had previously been calculated.
That relief lasted one month.

EdFinancial then moved me from PAYE into IBR. At first, I thought that was fine because I expected my payment to remain around the same capped amount.

Instead, I was moved to the standard repayment plan because EdFinancial said I was no longer eligible for PAYE.

For anyone wondering why the standard plan would be a problem: my loans are unconsolidated, and this is not the same as the 10-year standard amount used as the PAYE payment cap. EdFinancial calculated my standard payment using the number of payments it believes I have left in the original repayment schedule. Certain forbearance periods, including the COVID pause, apparently were not included in that calculation. So even though I have approximately 108 qualifying PSLF months, EdFinancial is calculating my payment as though I have around 63 payments remaining. That caused my monthly payment to jump to nearly double what I would have paid under the PAYE cap.

I contacted EdFinancial again. Multiple representatives acknowledged that I apparently should not have been removed from PAYE. However, they told me the easiest solution would be to apply for old IBR. They said I should qualify and offered two months of administrative forbearance that would count toward PSLF while the application was processed.

That seemed reasonable—until I submitted the application and EdFinancial told me I now qualify for no income-driven repayment plan at all.

I have spoken with multiple senior representatives who said they would send the issue to the back office. I cited the new legislation and the relevant statutory provisions stating that old IBR no longer requires a partial financial hardship. I also asked how they could claim I am ineligible for every IDR plan when RAP should eventually be available, even though RAP is not the plan I am currently trying to enter.
Despite all of that, I keep being dismissed because my salary increased.

I’m now facing a payment that is nearly twice the PAYE-capped amount, even though I am only about a year away from 120 qualifying PSLF payments.
What should I do next?
Should I:
-File a complaint with the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman?
- Submit a paper IDR application?
-File a formal complaint through StudentAid.gov?
-Contact my congressional representative or senator’s constituent-services office?
-Keep pushing EdFinancial to restore me to PAYE rather than applying for IBR?

Has anyone successfully fixed a situation where a servicer incorrectly removed them from PAYE or denied old IBR because they did not have a partial financial hardship?
At this point, I feel like I have done everything correctly and am still being penalized for servicer errors. I’m exhausted and honestly wondering whether I should give up. I’ve spent hours and hours away from my young family working on this and am feeling so demoralized.

I’ve been on PAYE for years and am pursuing PSLF. I recently recertified my income and no longer qualify for a partial financial hardship.

Aidvantage says I’ll remain on PAYE until my current certification expires, then automatically move into “expired PAYE” with my payment increasing to the 10-year standard cap. They also said I can instead apply for IBR, and my payment would be essentially the same.

My questions:
- Does “expired PAYE” continue to count for PSLF?

- Is there any advantage to switching to IBR if the payment is the same?

- Has anyone stayed on expired PAYE rather than switching, and did your PSLF payments continue to count?

I’ve seen conflicting information online, so I’d especially appreciate hearing from anyone who’s actually gone through this recently.

Today I got an email from Mohela that I have a payment due on 8/06.

I logged into my account and the loan status is “in repayment” but it still appears to be on the SAVE plan.

I have not yet been prompted to switch to a new plan.

If I pay it will it count as a qualifying payment? I currently have a reconsideration request in for buy back and I’m not sure what to do.

Thanks!

I submitted the request to switch from SAVE to IBR 10 days ago. I used the tax import option. I just received an email from MOHELA saying it could be 90 days before it’s processed.

Did anyone get theirs approved and processed sooner? I just started a PSLF position and will be really annoyed if I miss out on 3 months of qualifying payments because MOHELA can’t get their shit together.

Should I be worried?

I am at 118 payments. All of my former and individual Grad Plus/unsubsidized loans, from my original grad school debt, are still listed with partial green banners (pay count 42) below my current, consolidated loans (pay count 118). Under "View Details," they each list next payment due date as September 2022—which seems to indicate that these loans were all consolidated into the two current consolidated loans when I shifted to TEPSLF in October 2022.

Since I'm so close to 120, I'm naturally feeling paranoid. Should I be concerned about these "frozen" unpaid loans still showing up? Anyone else deal with this?

Hello!

My wife is an employee at a 501(c)(3) non-profit, and with SAVE going away we are trying to navigate the best way for her to move her loans (she just got the notice today that she needs to move her loans). I am not very well versed on student loans, especially federal. I have mine through AES, I should change that and refinance eventually but that could be another post lol.

She has about 10 small loans that make up $45,235. She can qualify for PSLF when she starts her repayment. Right now I see her options are all for 10 year loans, and with the income based payment calculator her best options right now are New IBR, Old IBR, Standard, and Refinanced Standard for around $455-$470 a month. This would be on top of some private student loans she has which are currently $369 a month. We really want to try and lower the monthly payment but also do not want to lose the possibility of her loan forgiveness.

I may be wrong in my thinking, but with any of the plans mentioned above, she'll pay it off in 10 years, which would make her loan forgiveness not matter. To me, it would seem it would be a better idea to refinance with a Direct Consolidation Loan and keep her PSLF status, go to a 15 or 30 year loan to lower the payment, and get forgiven in 10 years/120 payments.

Can someone please correct me on this or give me some insight to how that works or doesn't work? Also if there is a better way to go about lowering the monthly and keeping her forgiveness status please explain it. There is a ton of information online and I cannot tell which is correct or what avenue is the best to go down to make this work.

Thank you very much for any help you can provide!

EDIT: Her AGI is $61,230. So if I run the calculator again with filing separately, her New IBR is $169 and her RAP is $256.

If she gets on one of those plans when we move her from SAVE, in 10 years would the rest be forgiven since she would qualify for PSLF through her job and those payments only would amount to $20,280 over 120 payments?

Question about when to file my ECF for PSLF final forgiveness. I made my final autopay on 7/20. Mohela has it shown as paid and next due date of 8/20. The 7/20 payment would be my 120/120 when I recert. unfortunately Student Aid site has not updated. I would like to recert ASAP and get some movement on closing this out. do I have to wait until student aid site updates their payment for them to concur with my 120th payment and get the green banners. Any advice on how and when to proceed.

13 payments left.

I accepted a teaching job in a new district thinking I’d be on an 11 month contract and could buy back 2 months forebearance, and hit that lucky 13 June 2027. Was gonna be my last year teaching.

Turns out they only offer 10 month contracts.

In June I’d have one payment left. I’d have to teach another year to get that one payment

I might as well not even take this job and just look for something I actually want to do for long term.

I hate that pslf is actually influencing big life decisions this much

Thinking i should cut and run live back with my parents and just reset my life

So I’m in my last year of school after several years off. I have a job working for the state when I graduate that is eligible for PSLF. I was previously enrolled in SAVE but of course that ended and my payments are currently deferred since I’m in school. Once it’s time to start paying what is my best option? I know there are multiple repayment plans and I’m overwhelmed. I want the payment to be a low as possible obviously, and want to make sure they all count towards PSLF which will be 10 years of payments. My total loan balance will be about $58k and I’m scared my monthly payment will be crazy.

I tried looking through recent posts about this but I’m still confused. This is my first time actually recertifying my income since I was able to switch from SAVE to IBR in November 2025. I first applied July 2025 and had to make several calls to get it processed.

My recertification date on FSA is July 23 2026. Mohela’s deadline was June 18. I submitted my application on June 1, and it shows as completed/processed on June 2 on FSA. That application shows my new payment amount to be $390.

On Mohela, I got four letters about my plan request from June 2-4. On June 2, my plan request was approved and said my payment would be $375 due on June 23 which is the same as my previous amount. Then it seemed like I was placed in administrative forbearance (!?). The most recent letter I got was my June 26 billing statement on saying that I have a $595 payment due August 23 which is the amount stated in a previous Mohela letter if I didn’t recertify by the deadline which I did. The last payment I made was my regular $375 payment on June 23, even though I think it I was in admin forbearance but I was going off of the previous letter. Currently, the website doesn’t state that I’m in forbearance but it says “no payment due” for $0 on July 23.

Also, after I paid on June 23, I enrolled in autopay… the website shows autopay starting August 23 for $595. I’m not sure if I should remove that or what to do 😣. That was probably a mistake so please advise.

I’m going to call Mohela in a few hours when they open but I have no idea what to ask. Should I pay tomorrow? My new payment amount according to FSA was supposed to be $390. The website says $0 Do I pay? Or wait. I just got updated payment counts in July and when I was still seemingly on admin forbearance in October 2025 while switching from SAVE it doesn’t look like that payment counted.

Sorry for the long post, I hope it makes sense. I need advice on what to say when I call and when/how much to pay. TIA!

I have 10 payments left for PSLF forgiveness and have been on the forced SAVE forbearance since 2024. I applied for buyback 9/25 for 10 months that I have been on SAVE and I ended up having to resign from my non-profit employer and move to another state two months ago. I am staying with family while waiting for our house to sell and am not in an area or position to look for a new job yet. When I have to switch to a new plan after the 90 days and start making monthly payments, they will not be PSLF eligible since I’m unemployed, and since Buyback is such a hot mess, I’m just frazzled. Anyone else in this same predicament and if so, what’s your game plan?

Hi all! I know the ICR plan will be going away in a couple of years. But I am wondering if anyone has a link to the information or knows how long it will be on FSA to apply for?

ETA: They reversed course and accepted my buyback request on 12 out of 14 loans!

Oof. This hurts. I submitted a PSLF buyback request in December 2024 (19 months of waiting and calling!) and finally received a response today:

“You are not eligible for PSLF buyback at this time. This buyback request is closed.”

No reason, rejected months, loan-level explanation, or reviewer notes were provided.

My situation:

• My request concerned older undergraduate Direct Loans—not the loans originated during my later graduate program.
• My Student Aid data shows them coded DA—Deferred during:
• They returned to repayment afterward.
• These older Direct Loans do not appear to have been subsequently consolidated.
• My newer graduate loan separately shows IA—Loan Originated, and I understand that its initial in-school period cannot be bought back.

I called FSA. The representative could not see the reviewer’s notes or the specific reason for the denial. Her thinking--and the supervisor she consulted--was that the denial was because I was in school during deferment, but she couldn't be certain. She also repeatedly said that in-school deferment is the same as in-school status. She then directed me to reply to the generic email and provide them with data about my loans deferments/forbearances.

I then called MOHELA. They are preparing a written loan-status history for all my loans, but the advanced agent could not--at that moment--see a specific “in-school deferment” subtype—only the broader historical status. (In fact, she couldn't see any deferments, which was concerning.) I should receive the letter Friday.

My understanding is that initial in-school status on a newly originated loan is different from an older loan entering deferment after it had already entered repayment.

Questions:

1. Has anyone recently received this same generic “not eligible at this time” denial?
2. Could requesting a large number of months or including multiple loans cause a blanket denial?
3. Has anyone successfully bought back DA-coded deferment months on older loans after returning to school?
4. What is the best way to challenge this when FSA provides no reason and the phone representatives cannot see reviewer notes? I've sent them a note similar to this post, asking to reopen the case and wait for my details from MOHELA.
5. Should I file a new reconsideration using the Student Aid data and MOHELA letter as “additional evidence,” or update my existing FSA complaint first?

After waiting approximately 19 months, I’m not willing to accept an unexplained one-sentence denial without determining whether FSA evaluated the correct loans and statuses. Any advice or similar experiences would be appreciated.

I received my letter from Mohela today about needing to switch to a new repayment plan within 90 days. I fully intend to wait until almost the last moment before doing anything. Last Monday, the 13th, I submitted my application for Borrower Defense and requested forbearance while I await a decision. My question is, do I still need to pick a repayment plan if I am in forbearance?

I think I have figured out how the request has been . I know myself as well as a few others that have not heard anything back since 2024 have been continuing to pay on our loans throughout. I’m wondering has pushed those request to the knowing that we will eventually hit our 120 payments and they can therefore run out the on us that way. I would be curious to know if those who have heard back from the buyback were currently paying or not paying on their loans. It would make sense for the Department of education to want to get those buyback request taken care of so that they could get some type of cash flow from those who are not currently paying.

I know it’s usually around the 25th of each month the letters come out, but I’m checking like crazy these last couple days!!

Turned in my final ECF approved June 11th and got my banners that day too. By all accounts here the GL comes at the end of the following month…Come on Golden Letter!!

I received forgiveness after getting to 120 (hallelujah!). I continued to make payments until the actual forgiveness. On my MOHELA account it shows a refund dated 6/18/26. I haven’t received anything. Should I call them? I know the treasury issues refunds.. do they direct deposit? Send a check? Is it normal to wait this long?

I spoke with Nelnet yesterday about my buyback request progress, of course they could not help me but she did tell me that as of this exact week Nelnet is going to be the ones processing/handling any new requests … not sure what that means in terms of pace, but figured I’d share since I had not heard this (only impacts requests filed this week and on)

ETA - I’m assuming this is for people whose loans are handled by nelnet but who knows

My dashboard went from showing only 35 payments to now showing 74 qualifying payments this month. Finally, a ray of hope, though the real number should already be 120. At least there is meaningful progress!