The Public Service Forgiveness Program seems not to perform well. According to the Department of Education, the government rarely accepts 1% of applicants to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. The application process is simple for qualified applicants of Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Nevertheless, it is problematic to get acceptance. There are no specific reasons for applicants to receive the denial from the PSLF Program.
The student loan forgiveness experts accept that the program is challenging for applicants. Many applicants get the wrong directories in the application process. There might be a single requirement that you are not qualified. That’s why it is crucial to know all the demands and eligibility for the Program. In our article, we will explore the requirements for the program, mistakes you might make in your application, apparent reasons for the denial and how you can avoid the rejection from the program.
The PSLF Program and its requirements
The PSLF is one of the Student Loan Forgiveness Programs available out there. The Program is for employees of government and non-profit organizations. If you are a public service worker with your student loans and get the acceptance to this program, your federal student loans will be forgiven. This is not enough to be a public service worker for eligibility to the PSLF. You should make your payments monthly, and your remaining debts might be forgiven.
Most of the applicants are getting the denial from the program because they do not meet the requirements. The US law set the requirements for the Student Loan Forgiveness Programs. It is essential to know the criteria and your eligibility to the Public Student Loan Forgiveness Program.
What are the requirements for the Program?
You should have your federal student loans. If your student loans are private student loans, you are not eligible for the Public Student Loan Forgiveness Program.
You must be a government or non-profit organization employee. Eligibility for this forgiveness program is not about what kind of work you do, but it is about your employer. To be eligible for this forgiveness program, you should be a worker of government organization at any level or a worker of a non-profit organization. There are some nonprofit organizations which do not make employees qualified for the Public Service Forgiveness Program.
Make your payments regularly and have a repayment plan. Your payments should be made while you are an employee of any public service organization. This means you are not qualified for this program if you make your payments while you are a student or pause your payments because of loan forbearance. You should make your 120 monthly payments on the due date. Payments only count if you pay the required amount. Extra or missed payments do not count.
You should be a full-time worker and must work full-time or at least 30 hours a week to be eligible for the Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness Program. You might get detailed information about the requirements from here.
The last step after knowing you are fully eligible to the Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness program is the application process. You must be a qualifying employee to fulfill the Public Service Loan Forgiveness application. Make your changes which do not make you eligible for the program.
Why is the PSLF Program still denying too many applicants?
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness is available since 2007. After 10 years later borrowers get the eligibility for student loan discharge. The latest data shows that 99% of the applicants of the PSLF get the rejection.
Here are the main reasons why most people are getting the denial from the Program.
Wrong filled or incomplete applications
Many applicants are getting a rejection because they do not meet the requirements of the program or applying with an incomplete application form. According to the Department of Education, applicants should complete all the information on the employment certification form and submit a completed application form.
You are not making your payments under a qualifying repayment plan
A qualifying repayment plan must be one of the income-driven repayment plans. Even though Standard Repayment Plan makes you eligible for the Program, to get the forgiveness you should go into an income-driven repayment plan. Most of the applicants are getting the denial because they are in a wrong repayment plan. Income-driven repayment plans are being in an affordable amount so that you can make your student loan payments monthly.
Here are the four income-driven repayments plans making you eligible for the student loan forgiveness:
- Income-based repayment plan
- Pay As You Earn repayment plan
- Revised Pay As You Earn repayment plan
- Income-contingent repayment plan
There are different payment methods and payments period. Learn more about here.
You are applying with incorrect loans
Eligibility for the Program is only for who have their direct federal student loans. If your loans are any other loan type, like private loans or non-educational loans, you are not eligible. Some applicants apply with an incorrect loan and make their payments on time. If you did not apply with a direct loan to the program, even though your payments made on time, it is inevitable to get the rejection from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
How you can avoid the denial of Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program
To avoid the denial of the PSLF, you must pay a little attention to the application process. As we already mentioned above, there were too many applicants, nearly 300 applicants get the student loan forgiveness.
With following the right application process, you might get student loan forgiveness.
Here is how you can avoid the denial of Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. Firstly, make sure you are filling your application correctly. Student loan forgiveness experts say that it is crucial to pay attention to your application. Most of the applicants get the denial, just because their Employment Certification Form was incomplete. If you want to be among the ones who get the forgiveness, make sure your employer is fulfilling the Employment Certification Form correctly as well. Incorrect and incomplete applications will not make you a qualified applicant. Make sure you are avoiding these mistakes while submitting your application.
On the other hand, there is a big mistake that almost every applicant makes: Being in a wrong repayment plan. Above, we have talked about which repayment plan is making you qualified for forgiveness. Some people make their repayment every month on the due date, even though they are not getting the forgiveness after making payments for almost a decade. It is because they are in a wrong repayment plan. Make sure you are in the income-driven repayment plan, which makes you eligible for the PSLF.
Another thing you can change in order avoids the denial is going with the right path. Be aware is that your student loans are federal direct student loans. Only applicants who can get forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness are the ones with direct loans.
