Select Page

In light of the 99% denial rate for the initial wave of PSLF applicants, I thought it would be helpful to confirm exactly what is required to qualify:

Qualified Loans

You must have Direct non-parent Loans to qualify. FFEL, Perkins and Parent loans do NOT qualify! Keep in mind you can sometimes consolidate non-qualified loans to allow them to become qualified.

Qualified Payments

Your payments must be made under one of the income driven repayment plans. These include PAYE, RePAYE, IBR, and ICR.

Qualified Employer

You must also be employed by a qualifying employer while making these qualified payments for them to count toward PSLF. A qualified employer includes 501c3 non-profit, government, and other specifically listed employers. You must be employed full time. Keep in mind many hospitals are qualifying non-profits, however, many physicians that work in those hospitals work for non-qualifying physician sub-groups.

Make 120 qualified payments on qualified loans while working for a qualified employer and you qualify for tax-free PSLF. Once this occurs, you must submit the application. (must still remain employed by your qualified employer) and then they will approve or decline.

This might seem simple on the surface — but if you consider someone that has 20 loans and 120 payments, that’s 2,400 different data points. And maybe they had 5 different employers during this time period. This means they’re responsible for proving all of these 2,400 payments were fully qualified over the 10 year period and 5 jobs.

There is a way to verify status over time. which we highly encourage competing at least annually. At this point, very few borrowers are actually using this optional requirement but hopefully this improves.

What can you do?

If you’re not sure where you stand and would like some help, we’re currently offering a FREE student loan assessment. The assessment will include an organized and simplified visual representation of your loans. It will also highlight, based on your circumstances, the most important issues and opportunities you should be thinking about. And we’ve made it super easy to get started: Just click here to get the report..

Wrenne Financial Blog Ad
white coat investor
Student loan planning wrenne financial
Financial Planning Guide wrenne Financial
Finance For Physicians Podcast

What's Next

Are you interested in having a conversation? We’d love to connect! Click here to request a free consultation. We look forward to hearing from you.

Looking to create your own financial plan? Click here to download our free guide to getting started.

2022 © Wrenne Financial Planning | Accessibility | Crafted by Harris & Ward
Top
Wrenne Financial Planning LLC (“WFP”) is a registered investment adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. All written content on this site is for information purposes only. Opinions expressed herein are solely those of WFP, unless otherwise specifically cited. Material presented is believed to be from reliable sources and no representations are made by our firm as to another parties’ informational accuracy or completeness. All information or ideas provided should be discussed in detail with an advisor, accountant or legal counsel prior to implementation.