Question:
“I keep hearing on the news that forgiveness does not work and that most people are denied. Is this true?”
Answer:
If you hear any news or read any articles about “forgiveness”, it almost assuredly is about Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). When this program began effective October 1, 2007, the federal government placed many confusing rules and guidelines to qualifying for forgiveness.
You must work at least 10 years at qualifying employer and, while you are employed there full-time, you must have the right kind of federal loans AND have the right type of payment plan AND you can’t make double payments.
You can only truly apply for forgiveness AFTER you have made 120 qualified payments. Yet, most people that applied for PSLF should not have applied as they haven’t made enough qualified payments. Due to the confusion on the rules for this program, yet the number of people who have qualified for PSLF has been low, yet it has increased and will only continue to grow.
So, if you see an article that states “99% of people who have applied for PSLF have been denied”, that is not telling the whole story. From the 2nd quarter of 2019 to the 3rd quarter, the number of people who have been approved has tripled! PSLF does work!
WBLT-0000 (Feb. 20)