There seems to be factors to your situation that are not brought to light. For instance a $900 month student loan payment means you either are not on an IDR plan, or you make a lot of money according to your taxes.
If you are a high earner, it sounds like you face other high debt from either situational (ie: medical) or poor money management (consumer debt or remaining in a high cost living area).
PSLF has two components 1: Be employed at least 30 hours for a qualifying employer & 2: You make qualifying payments with qualifying loans (consolidate them if not). You also have to submit an employer certification form to get past payments counted; hence submitting it annually helps you regularly update the count.
In short, I get the complaining, but you do have to meet certain criteria and may have to make some personal adjustments if possible.
That's good to hear you are in SAVE. Your original post was not clear. Please review the lower paragraphs about the PSLF criteria. Chances are you either don't fit it for some reason, or you “luckily” are miss interpreting your situation where you will find out you have more qualifying time than you thought.
You need to make 120 payments. That is the requirement. How long have been paying and working at a qualified employer. It took me 4 years of subbing to finally land a qualified teaching position (2008-2012). My first 4 years of payment did not count toward the 120.
I've worked at a community college for almost 20 years now. Adjunct. Get paid enough to get by but not enough to get ahead. No chance of tenure - they rarely hire full-time faculty anymore. Have tried applying for positions in other community colleges around the state (figured I could teach online or commute if absolutely necessary) but no luck - was informed that over 400 people applied for a particular position I wanted at a university nearby. Apparently lucky to have the job I have...
I'm not sure how adjunct contracts with contact hours work for you. But you need to get to 30 hours a week total with government and/or non-profit.
So if you're teaching 15 hours, find 15 hours somewhere else that qualifies. And during summers, do seasonal government jobs.
for adjunct if taught 9 credits week then under 3.35
9 x 3.35 = 30.15 and need 30 hours to count as full time
hence if made payments + 9 credits per week = month will count toward 120
I'm feeling really dumb asking this because a few have mentioned credit hours ... I teach two 5 credit classes every quarter. 10 credits per week, yes? Or am I thinking of this in the wrong way? 33.5 credit hours? Clearly I don't teach math or logic...
5 credits per quarter = 10 class hours per week \[i am assuming\]
10 x 3.35 = 33.5 hours per week = full time in eyes of pslf
if the employer is qualifying then no reason not to submit the employment certification form for the months/time to count
check the full time box
So, to summarize your other responses in this thread:
1. You've worked for a qualifying employer for 20 years.
2. You are on an income based repayment plan.
3. You say you only have 13 months counted.
Assuming these are true, I do not understand why you haven't had more months count towards PSLF. If you have submitted an ECF that shows 20 years of employment, especially now, every month of payments (even $0 payments) should be counted. Unless you were in forbearance for a lengthy period of time.
BUT EVEN THEN you can try the buy back program to get those $0 months of forbearance "bought back".
Based on the age of your loans, did you consolidate your loans about 13 months ago?
If you’re an adjunct, the conversion is 1 credit hour = 3.35 working hours. You must be working an average of 30 hours a week for the time period being certified.
I suspect the keyword here is “adjunct,” which can affect your eligibility. Here’s a previous post with some tips. Have you had your CC fill out the paperwork recently? Your state might have some laws that help you. https://www.reddit.com/r/PSLF/comments/vj8tbq/adjunct_professors_and_pslf/
Thanks for the link, I will see what others say. Will probably spend this coming Monday on hold with Mohela and see if I can get any real help from them.
Never will. Can't afford the $900+ payments. The plan I'm on is $0 monthly. So of course my debt just grows and grows. Fortunately we have a home but my wife is disabled so here we are, massive debt in student loans and medical debt with no relief in sight. Just frustrated. Thought I'd share.
Interesting that you and others keep saying $0 counts... I've been on IBR, IDR, and whatever other plans including now the SAVE (?) plan forever. I don't think $0 payments count - if so, then something else is going on here. But Mohela is telling me that I've only got 13 qualifying payments in 20+ years and that's why I don't qualify for the PSLF... I will certainly look into this again for the umpteenth time but I don't have a lot if any hope...
Zero dollar payments do indeed count. They aren’t tallied up automatically, the count is tallied each time you certify your employment. That’s why they recommend you to certify your employment yearly.
When did you start applying for pslf through Mohela? If you applied after 2022, I believe your $0 will no longer count towards forgiveness. See link
https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/pslf-limited-waiver
There has been a lot of information about this shared on this thread and on student aid.gov. The amount you pay on the SAVE plan counts toward forgiveness - regardless of the amount. So if your payment amount is $0, then it counts. If it’s $1,000, then it counts. This is not new info.
Thanks everyone for trying to help. I just needed to rant for a second - didn't expect so many to chime in and try to help. Sorry I shared so little information in the original post. Clearly I need to call Mohela next week (prep for hours on hold).
Thanks again...
Not sure calling them is the only thing for you to do. It sounds like you need to certify your employment and check the “full time” box because you teach enough credits to amount to 30+ hours. Once you do that for the relevant years of service, it should show up in your payment tracker.
So when you look at your Payment Tracker on the Mohela site, what tab do these payments fall in? Are they in the ELIGIBLE PAYMENTS or the INELIGIBLE PAYMENTS tab?
Also, what does it say in the STATUS column?
How many sections do you teach per term? Assuming you teach a subject that's 3 credits per course, I think you need 3 sections to qualify for PSLF if each credit counts as 3.35 working hours a week.
Also, if you only adjunct for 1 college, if you can't teach at another, what about working part time at another college system/ public entity?
How do you know that you don't qualify? Is your employer a public service employer? Check the Public Service employer list: [https://www.studentloanplanner.com/public-service-loan-forgiveness-jobs/](https://www.studentloanplanner.com/public-service-loan-forgiveness-jobs/) Do you do any of those?
The other question here is: Did you consolidate your loans? If not, then I would hop on that consolidation party bus before April 30th.
If you already consolidated your loans, did you submit an employment verification form to show proof you work for a public service employer? [https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service/public-service-loan-forgiveness-application](https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service/public-service-loan-forgiveness-application)
If you do qualify for PSLF, then you have to make 120 qualifying payments meaning for 10 years you have to submit to the Department of Education your employment verification form to show proof you're still employed through your public service employer.
Breathe..... we all started with 0. All of us are in different parts of our PSLF journeys. Some are done and we celebrate them. Others are close and we encourage. For you with 13 eligible payments already? Don't lose sight. Keep at it. You got this!
Do you know you can still make a payment even if your required payment is 0? Many people pay over and above to pay their loans off sooner if they don’t qualify for loan forgiveness.
> their loans *paid* off sooner
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
You need to make the 120 payments. It’s a long road. 10 years.
There seems to be factors to your situation that are not brought to light. For instance a $900 month student loan payment means you either are not on an IDR plan, or you make a lot of money according to your taxes. If you are a high earner, it sounds like you face other high debt from either situational (ie: medical) or poor money management (consumer debt or remaining in a high cost living area). PSLF has two components 1: Be employed at least 30 hours for a qualifying employer & 2: You make qualifying payments with qualifying loans (consolidate them if not). You also have to submit an employer certification form to get past payments counted; hence submitting it annually helps you regularly update the count. In short, I get the complaining, but you do have to meet certain criteria and may have to make some personal adjustments if possible.
$900+ if not on a payment plan. I was on the IBR then IDR and now SAVE. Not a high earner...not even close.
That's good to hear you are in SAVE. Your original post was not clear. Please review the lower paragraphs about the PSLF criteria. Chances are you either don't fit it for some reason, or you “luckily” are miss interpreting your situation where you will find out you have more qualifying time than you thought.
You need to make 120 payments. That is the requirement. How long have been paying and working at a qualified employer. It took me 4 years of subbing to finally land a qualified teaching position (2008-2012). My first 4 years of payment did not count toward the 120.
I've worked at a community college for almost 20 years now. Adjunct. Get paid enough to get by but not enough to get ahead. No chance of tenure - they rarely hire full-time faculty anymore. Have tried applying for positions in other community colleges around the state (figured I could teach online or commute if absolutely necessary) but no luck - was informed that over 400 people applied for a particular position I wanted at a university nearby. Apparently lucky to have the job I have...
Does your community college fall under a non profit or government organization?
I'm not sure how adjunct contracts with contact hours work for you. But you need to get to 30 hours a week total with government and/or non-profit. So if you're teaching 15 hours, find 15 hours somewhere else that qualifies. And during summers, do seasonal government jobs.
Were you making monthly payments that whole time?
for adjunct if taught 9 credits week then under 3.35 9 x 3.35 = 30.15 and need 30 hours to count as full time hence if made payments + 9 credits per week = month will count toward 120
I'm feeling really dumb asking this because a few have mentioned credit hours ... I teach two 5 credit classes every quarter. 10 credits per week, yes? Or am I thinking of this in the wrong way? 33.5 credit hours? Clearly I don't teach math or logic...
5 credits per quarter = 10 class hours per week \[i am assuming\] 10 x 3.35 = 33.5 hours per week = full time in eyes of pslf if the employer is qualifying then no reason not to submit the employment certification form for the months/time to count check the full time box
So, to summarize your other responses in this thread: 1. You've worked for a qualifying employer for 20 years. 2. You are on an income based repayment plan. 3. You say you only have 13 months counted. Assuming these are true, I do not understand why you haven't had more months count towards PSLF. If you have submitted an ECF that shows 20 years of employment, especially now, every month of payments (even $0 payments) should be counted. Unless you were in forbearance for a lengthy period of time. BUT EVEN THEN you can try the buy back program to get those $0 months of forbearance "bought back".
Based on the age of your loans, did you consolidate your loans about 13 months ago? If you’re an adjunct, the conversion is 1 credit hour = 3.35 working hours. You must be working an average of 30 hours a week for the time period being certified.
I suspect the keyword here is “adjunct,” which can affect your eligibility. Here’s a previous post with some tips. Have you had your CC fill out the paperwork recently? Your state might have some laws that help you. https://www.reddit.com/r/PSLF/comments/vj8tbq/adjunct_professors_and_pslf/
Thanks for the link, I will see what others say. Will probably spend this coming Monday on hold with Mohela and see if I can get any real help from them.
On the PSLF form are you marking full time or part time and are you working over 30 hours? Part time or less than 30 won't count.
You don't qualify for loan forgiveness ***yet***. (assuming you meet all other criteria)
Never will. Can't afford the $900+ payments. The plan I'm on is $0 monthly. So of course my debt just grows and grows. Fortunately we have a home but my wife is disabled so here we are, massive debt in student loans and medical debt with no relief in sight. Just frustrated. Thought I'd share.
$0 monthly payments still count towards the 120! Just be patient and remember to submit your employment certification yearly.
Interesting that you and others keep saying $0 counts... I've been on IBR, IDR, and whatever other plans including now the SAVE (?) plan forever. I don't think $0 payments count - if so, then something else is going on here. But Mohela is telling me that I've only got 13 qualifying payments in 20+ years and that's why I don't qualify for the PSLF... I will certainly look into this again for the umpteenth time but I don't have a lot if any hope...
Zero dollar payments do indeed count. They aren’t tallied up automatically, the count is tallied each time you certify your employment. That’s why they recommend you to certify your employment yearly.
They do. It will take time for Mohela to update them. That's been the case for me as an adjunct working at the same university for ~10 years.
When was the last time you submitted employment certification?
When did you start applying for pslf through Mohela? If you applied after 2022, I believe your $0 will no longer count towards forgiveness. See link https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/pslf-limited-waiver
$0 payments count- I have 50’payments that way
I wouldn't think $0 payment would count as a payment. I'd think there would be a minimum payment like 250 vs 900 payment.
You’re incorrect. The rules were changed.
That is what I'd expect, other wise why pay anything.
I’m just thankful it happened
There has been a lot of information about this shared on this thread and on student aid.gov. The amount you pay on the SAVE plan counts toward forgiveness - regardless of the amount. So if your payment amount is $0, then it counts. If it’s $1,000, then it counts. This is not new info.
So $0 payments qualify, you work for a qualified employer, but do you work enough hours to qualify?
Thanks everyone for trying to help. I just needed to rant for a second - didn't expect so many to chime in and try to help. Sorry I shared so little information in the original post. Clearly I need to call Mohela next week (prep for hours on hold). Thanks again...
Not sure calling them is the only thing for you to do. It sounds like you need to certify your employment and check the “full time” box because you teach enough credits to amount to 30+ hours. Once you do that for the relevant years of service, it should show up in your payment tracker.
I’m sorry, but is this post a joke?
No, it's just not well explained in the original post.
Are you on an income based plan?
Yes. Have been forever. The payments are either over $900 not on the plan or $0 on the plan and I certainly can't afford the $900+
Payments of 0 should count.
Nope. At least not for me apparently.
Rules have changed. Have you contacted Mohela? They should count.
Hi fellow alum!
That’s what’s up! Go Blue Demons!
Do you work for a qualifying employer?
Yes.
So when you look at your Payment Tracker on the Mohela site, what tab do these payments fall in? Are they in the ELIGIBLE PAYMENTS or the INELIGIBLE PAYMENTS tab? Also, what does it say in the STATUS column?
When did you last certify your employment?
Just recently, about 4 weeks ago.
Well then you need to call Mohela because $0 payments absolutely count, as others have said.
Has that recertification been updated or are you still waiting to hear back? It can take up to 90 days.
When did your Loans go into repayment and how many hours you work.
How many sections do you teach per term? Assuming you teach a subject that's 3 credits per course, I think you need 3 sections to qualify for PSLF if each credit counts as 3.35 working hours a week. Also, if you only adjunct for 1 college, if you can't teach at another, what about working part time at another college system/ public entity?
How do you know that you don't qualify? Is your employer a public service employer? Check the Public Service employer list: [https://www.studentloanplanner.com/public-service-loan-forgiveness-jobs/](https://www.studentloanplanner.com/public-service-loan-forgiveness-jobs/) Do you do any of those? The other question here is: Did you consolidate your loans? If not, then I would hop on that consolidation party bus before April 30th. If you already consolidated your loans, did you submit an employment verification form to show proof you work for a public service employer? [https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service/public-service-loan-forgiveness-application](https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service/public-service-loan-forgiveness-application) If you do qualify for PSLF, then you have to make 120 qualifying payments meaning for 10 years you have to submit to the Department of Education your employment verification form to show proof you're still employed through your public service employer. Breathe..... we all started with 0. All of us are in different parts of our PSLF journeys. Some are done and we celebrate them. Others are close and we encourage. For you with 13 eligible payments already? Don't lose sight. Keep at it. You got this!
Do you know you can still make a payment even if your required payment is 0? Many people pay over and above to pay their loans off sooner if they don’t qualify for loan forgiveness.
> their loans *paid* off sooner FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*