You heard about Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) a while ago. It’s a program that forgives the loans of public service employees. Being a teacher with quite a bit of debt to your name, you’re wondering if your employer qualifies. More specifically, you want to know: “Do charter schools qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness?”
Is Your Employer Qualified for PSLF?
Talking about whether charter schools are qualified for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, the answer is “they are if they’re an eligible employer.” Thus, the next question you should ask is: “What makes a PSLF qualified employer?” Charter schools are qualified employers for PSLF if they are either a government or a non-profit entity.
By government, it means your employer must be a public charter school, for example. On the other hand, private schools are a great example of a non-profit entity. It can be confusing whether there is PSLF for charter schools or not or if your school is qualified. You can know for sure if you ask your school’s human resources department.
Your school may qualify, but that doesn’t mean you are automatically qualified for the program. You still have to meet the other requirements of the PSLF program. As such, it is vital to look into the program more and ask about it from the right people. The good news is even if your school isn’t qualified, you can look into other loan forgiveness programs.
Now you know how to find out the answer to the question “do charter schools qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness?” The next thing you want to do is research more about PSLF. Find out its qualifications and how you can apply.
Other Things You Need to Qualify for PSLF Program
If your charter school qualifies for PSLF, you still need to meet the other requirements. The following characteristics are the things you need to fulfill for the PSLF program:
- You must work full-time for the charter school that qualifies for PSDF.
- You must have Direct Loans or have your other federal student loans consolidated into a Direct Loan.
- You have to repay your loans through a repayment plan driven by your income. This provision doesn’t apply in the meantime due to the limited PSLF waiver. It will be waived temporarily until October 31, 2022.
- You have to make 120 qualifying payments.
How To Apply to PSLF Program
Based on the final provision written above, you don’t need to apply for PSLF until you’ve repaid your loan for the 120th time. Until you reach your 120th repayment, you only need to accomplish the Employment Certification Form. With this form, you can prove your full-time status to your loan provider and fulfill one of the requirements above.
Wrapping Up
Do charter schools qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness? If it’s a public or a non-profit private school, then the answer is yes. If your employer qualifies, don’t forget to check if you are eligible for other qualifications. It would be a waste not to take advantage of the benefits of PSLF. Don’t worry because there are other loan forgiveness programs if you don’t qualify.