Public Service Loan Forgiveness: Track Your Progress
The Department of Education has released an Employment Certification for Public Service Loan Forgiveness form to assist borrowers in tracking their qualifying employment and qualifying payments as they work toward earning loan forgiveness.
Printer-friendly versionThis will be a tremendous help for borrowers in documenting the 120 qualifying monthly payments (at least ten years worth) they need to earn forgiveness. It also will provide them with some certainty that their employment qualifies.
It will take at least 10 years for you to make the 120 qualifying payments necessary to receive PSLF. Fortunately, the Department of Education has created an Employment Certification for Public Service Loan Forgiveness form to assist you in tracking your periods of qualifying employment and your qualifying payments.
Download the materials you need:
- Dear Borrower Letter
- Instructions for Completing Employment Certification for Public Service Loan Forgiveness
- Employment Certification for Public Service Loan Forgiveness
The form allows you to get your employer's certification of employment while you are still employed at that organization or shortly after leaving. The process allows you to receive confirmation of qualifying employment and your Direct Loan payment eligibility. You may also submit the form less frequently than annually to cover more than one year's employment or for more than one employer.
Follow the steps outlined in the Department’s Dear Borrower Letter and submit the form to the Department of Education for confirmation of qualifying employment and payments.
After you submit the form, you will be notified whether your employment qualifies, the total number of qualifying payments you have made and how many payments still need to be made before you qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
While use of this form and process is not required, if you want the Department of Education to keep track of your progress toward meeting the PSLF eligibility requirements, you should follow the steps below. If you do not periodically submit the form, you will still be required to submit a form for each employer that you want considered for PSLF at the time that you apply for forgiveness.
What should I do after I become eligible for PSLF?
After you make your 120th qualifying payment, you will need to submit the PSLF application to receive loan forgiveness. The application is under development and will be available prior to the date when the first borrowers will be eligible for PSLF Program forgiveness, in October 2017. You must be working for a qualified public service organization at the time you submit the application for forgiveness and at the time the remaining balance on your loan is forgiven.