What is Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and should you check it before bankruptcy?

Who qualifies for PSLF?

Federal Student Aid sets out the requirements on StudentAid.gov. You need all of them at once.

1. Work for an eligible employer: a government organization at any level or a qualifying not-for-profit.1
2. Work full-time, which for PSLF means a weekly average of at least 30 hours.1
3. Have Direct Loans, or consolidate other federal student loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan.1
4. Repay under a qualifying repayment plan.1
5. Make the equivalent of 120 qualifying monthly payments. They do not need to be consecutive.1

You must still be working for a qualifying employer when you submit the form for forgiveness, and the regulation requires that the loan not be in default when forgiveness is requested.1 3

Which employers count?

Qualifying depends on who you work for, not on the specific job you do.1

The current regulation also leaves out organizations that engage in activities with a substantial illegal purpose, a term the regulation itself defines. The PSLF employer search on StudentAid.gov is the place to check a specific employer.3 1

Which loans and repayment plans count?

Only Direct Loans qualify. Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) and Perkins loans do not qualify unless you consolidate them into a Direct Consolidation Loan, and loans from private lenders do not qualify at all.1

Federal Student Aid lists the qualifying plans as the income-driven repayment plans and the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan. It says the Graduated, Extended and Tiered Standard plans, and the Standard plan for consolidation loans, do not qualify.1

Repayment plans changed under a federal law signed on July 4, 2025, which created a new Repayment Assistance Plan. Because the details are still moving, read the current plan list on StudentAid.gov and confirm your own plan with your servicer before you rely on it.4 1

Parent PLUS borrowers face tighter limits. Federal Student Aid says a parent PLUS loan taken out or consolidated after July 1, 2026 has no access to income-driven plans or to PSLF.5

How do you apply and keep track?

You submit a PSLF form, most easily through the PSLF Help Tool on StudentAid.gov. Federal Student Aid recommends certifying your employment every year and whenever you change employers. After each form it tells you how many qualifying payments you have made.1

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau advises keeping proof of every payment and checking the count you receive against your own records.6

Why check PSLF before a bankruptcy discharge case?

Because the two routes ask very different things of you. PSLF forgives the remaining balance once you meet its conditions. Discharging a student loan in bankruptcy takes a separate lawsuit inside the case, where you have to prove undue hardship.1 7

PSLF is a long route, not quick relief. Because it requires 120 qualifying monthly payments, it takes at least 10 years to qualify, so it suits someone who can keep up payments under a qualifying plan.1

Working toward PSLF also builds the record a bankruptcy case looks at. The Justice Department's guidance lists applying for an income-driven repayment plan, applying for a federal consolidation loan and engaging with your servicer about payment options among the steps that show good faith.2

If your loan is in default, forgiveness cannot be granted until the default is resolved, because the regulation requires that the loan not be in default when forgiveness is requested. Rehabilitation and consolidation are the two main ways out of default.3 8

What if you tried PSLF and it did not work?

Write down what happened, with dates: what you were told, by whom, and what you did next. If you later seek a discharge in bankruptcy, the attestation form asks about your contacts with your servicer and your efforts to enroll in repayment programs.9

The Justice Department's guidance acknowledges that loan servicing has been plagued at times by administrative errors and confusing, inaccurate information. It says the good faith inquiry should not disqualify borrowers who did not engage because of possible misinformation, and that attorneys should look at the entire life of the loan.2

• Ask Federal Student Aid to look again by submitting a PSLF reconsideration request.1
• Submit feedback to Federal Student Aid about problems with loan forgiveness. You can upload supporting documents.10
• If your servicer does not give you accurate information about your PSLF progress, you can submit a complaint to the CFPB.6