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How did you pay for your university education? If you are like the millions of other Americans, chances are your education was financed by a federally-approved loan. Of course, a loan is a loan, and you are still responsible for repaying it.
Or are you? After all, the pandemic has caused the Federal Government to reconsider its traditional stance on student loans. Student loan forgiveness is an option for you right now. And it is one you ought to take advantage of.
Like student loan forbearance, public service student loan forgiveness requires certain things to happen. In particular, your employer needs to be considered public service.
By meeting this requirement, among others, you can find yourself on the receiving end of tax-free, student loan forgiveness (principal and interest). Read on to see if your employer renders you eligible for student loan forgiveness.
Qualifying Employers
Before going any further, let’s be clear on one thing: It is not a certain job that makes you eligible for student loan forgiveness. Whether you may be eligible or not depends more on the nature of your employer’s services. Your eligibility also rests on how the IRS classifies your employer.
Without getting into the weeds, your employer can render you eligible by being in one of the following classifications.
Government Agency
One student loan–forgiving qualifying employer is any government agency.
You do not need to be working for an agency at the federal level either. The provisions for qualifying employers allow any agency at all tiers to participate as a student loan forgiveness employer.
You can be eligible by working in an agency at the following levels of government:
- Federal
- State
- Local
- Tribal
Nonprofit
The IRS has classifications for nonprofit groups and organizations. Under its tax codes, nonprofits that qualify as student loan forgiveness eligible employers need to be 501c organizations.
These organizations are generally tax-exempt. In other words, they are not required to pay taxes since the money they receive is not income. The tax exemption is a way to incentivize donors. How does this work? It works by guaranteeing tax breaks for donations.
So, if you work for a nonprofit organization that makes money solely through donations, you’re in the clear!
Groups Deemed Too Essential to the Country’s Education, Safety, Public Health, and Defense
This is a pretty broad group. You can use the term “public service” for classification.
Employers that are essential to the country are qualifying employers. They can include:
- The Peace Corps and AmeriCorps
- The military
- Public health
- Public education
- Law enforcement
- Fire protection
Also included are lawyers within the public sector. Under this group are district attorneys and prosecutors. Discover other jobs that qualify for PSLF here.
A Contractor or Company That Works for Any of the Above
Third parties that act as contractors for the above groups can render you eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness too.
The Steps for PSLF Paperwork
See your employer in any of these groups? Good.
Now, let’s talk about what you need to do to qualify.
Step #1: Fill Out the Employment Certification Form
The form is six pages. Luckily, you only need to fill out two out of the six.
There is a part of the form your employer needs to fill out as well.
This form aims to verify that you do indeed work for a PSLF qualifying employer.
Step #3: Apply!
If you've already made 120 on-time payments to your Federal Direct Loans, you can go ahead and apply. Depending on if you were also enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan while you made your 120 payments, you'll need to apply for either the PSLF or TEPSLF program.
You can either fax or mail your forms and application, or upload them to Fedloan Serciving (the servicer that processes PSLF and TEPSLF forms and applications).
Thousands of potential beneficiaries have been turned away due to late paperwork.
Fax number: 717-720-1628
Fedloan website: https://myfedloan.org/
Mailing address:
U.S. Department of Education
FedLoan Servicing
P.O. Box 69184
Harrisburg, PA 17106-9184
We'll do the work for you!
Chipper specializes in student loan forgiveness! As long as you work for a qualifying employer, we'll do the rest for you, making sure you meet the requirements in order to apply. Without help, you'll get the student loan forgiveness you deserve.
Our experts have a 100% success rate and are eager to get you closer to financial freedom! The best part, Chipper offers “Chip-In What You Can” pricing. Basically, you as the student loan borrower have the option to choose how much to pay for our expert guidance, you can set any price over $1.
With our help, you can breathe easier knowing that your student loan repayment and debt can be one less thing to worry about!
