By Joseph Reinke, CFA, Founder of FitBUX
On May 23, 2018, The U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced additional conditions under which you may become eligible for loan forgiveness if some or all of the payments you made on your William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program were under a nonqualifying repayment plan for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). This program is named The Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) opportunity. This opportunity is temporary, has limited funding ($350m) and must be provided on a first come, first served basis. Once all of the funds are used, the TEPSLF opportunity will end.
Qualification Requirements
To qualify for loan forgiveness under the TEPSLF opportunity, you must have: 1- submitted the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF): Application for Forgiveness (PSLF application) and had that application denied only because some or all of your payments were not made under a qualifying repayment plan for PSLF; 2- had at least 10 years of full-time employment certified by a qualifying employer and approved by FedLoan Servicing, ED’s federal loan servicer for the PSLF Program; and 3- made 120 qualifying payments under the new requirement for TEPSLF while working full time for your qualifying employer or employers. ED will reconsider your eligibility for PSLF using an expanded list of qualifying repayment plans. Some payments that don’t count toward loan forgiveness under PSLF may count toward forgiveness under TEPSLF. The additional qualifying repayment plans include the Graduated Repayment Plan, Extended Repayment Plan, Consolidation Standard Repayment Plan, and Consolidation Graduated Repayment Plan. These plans don’t usually qualify for PSLF. You will be eligible for the TEPSLF opportunity only if, among other requirements, the amount you paid 12 months prior to applying for TEPSLF and the last payment you made before applying for TEPSLF are at least as much as you would have paid under an income-driven repayment plan. FedLoan Servicing will assess this and contact you if they need documentation of your income to determine whether you are eligible.
Process
Email FedLoan Servicing at TEPSLF@myfedloan.org, requesting that ED reconsider your eligibility for PSLF. Include the same name under which you submitted your PSLF application and your date of birth. FedLoan Servicing will confirm that you previously submitted the PSLF application and had that application denied. You will then receive an email from TEPSLF@myfedloan.org letting you know whether you can be considered for the TEPSLF opportunity and if so, advise on next steps.
 Who to contact
If you have questions or cannot email FedLoan Servicing, contact FedLoan Servicing at 1-855-265-4038 from 8 a.m.–9 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday.
