More borrowers may qualify for public service loan forgiveness

A new bill passed by Congress will make it easier for student loan borrowers to qualify for student loan forgiveness, CNBC reports.

The bill gives the Department of Education $350 million to offer forgiveness to student loan borrowers who meet all requirements for public service loan forgiveness except that they were enrolled in graduated or extended repayment plans, which were ineligible for relief.

New bill helps more qualify for forgiveness

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was designed to offer student loan forgiveness for borrowers who make 120 qualifying monthly payments while working full-time for a qualifying employer which includes government and nonprofit organizations, for at least 10 years.

Previously, a borrower had to be enrolled in a qualified Income-Driven repayment plan. However, the new bill gives allows the DOE to use these funds to extend loan forgiveness to borrowers who were enrolled in a different repayment plan when making their payments.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness still only applies to Direct loans through the government, including Federal Stafford Loans.

Apply ASAP for consideration

It’s important to note that the additional money for student loan forgiveness will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis. Once the money is gone, it’s gone.

If you think you qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, you’ll should apply as soon as possible, especially if you’re part of this group that was not on an income-driven repayment plan, since this may be your only chance to qualify.

Here is what the Department of Education currently says about the recently-passed bill on the Public Service Forgiveness page on its website:

Alert! The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 provided limited, additional conditions under which a borrower may become eligible for loan forgiveness if some or all of the payments made by the borrower do not qualify under current requirements for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). The U.S. Department of Education is assessing the newly enacted law and will explain the new forgiveness conditions to customers on this page as soon as more details are available. We encourage you to check back periodically.

As more information is revealed about this program and the application opens for this new group of borrowers, we’ll be posting and updating our website, but we encourage you to check the DOE website frequently if you want to apply.

We’re happy that the government is extending student loan forgiveness to more borrowers, and we’re hoping this means more people who have worked in public service can get relief.

If you’re looking for help repaying your student loans or need help figuring out how to finance college, feel free to contact us or give our experts a call at 1-888-234-3907.