Shared on behalf of the Office of the Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell

Commonwealth employees - act today for a time-limited student loan forgiveness opportunity that offers important debt relief for government and nonprofit workers. If you have federal student loans, you may be able to get new relief through a payment count adjustment (Adjustment) that the U.S. Dept. of Education is conducting for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program. To benefit, you may need to consolidate your federal loans by Dec. 31, 2023.

To learn about the Adjustment, you can register for a webinar with the Attorney General’s Office or watch a recorded webinar.

What is Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)?

The PSLF Program forgives the remaining balance on your Direct Loans after you’ve made 120 monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan while working at least 30 hours per week for the government or most types of nonprofit employers.

Even if you previously had problems pursuing PSLF, you can benefit from the Adjustment.

How Can the Adjustment Help Me Get Loan Forgiveness Faster?

Through the Adjustment, you can receive PSLF credit for past repayment periods that wouldn’t normally count toward forgiveness. For example, you can get PSLF credit for: 

• Payments made on ineligible federal loan types.
• Payments made on federal loans that you consolidated.
• Past repayment periods, regardless of whether you made the payment on time, for the full amount due, or under a qualifying repayment plan.
• Forbearance periods of 12 or more consecutive months or 36 or more cumulative months.

To benefit, you must consolidate any non-Direct Loans (e.g., FFELs or Perkins Loans) into the Direct Loan Program by Dec. 31, 2023.

Should I Consolidate My Direct Loans?

Even if some or all of your federal loans are Direct Loans, consolidating all your loans together may help speed up forgiveness. 

For example, if you took out undergrad loans and then worked for a qualifying employer before going to grad school, forgiveness will come faster on your grad school loans if you consolidate them with your undergrad loans.

This is because the Adjustment will credit the new consolidation loan with the largest number of qualifying months among the loans that were consolidated.

For example, if one loan would receive 50 months toward forgiveness through the Adjustment, and another would receive 100 months, by consolidating the two loans together, the new consolidation loan will receive 100 months toward forgiveness.

What Steps Do I Need to Take by Dec. 31, 2023?

Take the following steps to benefit:

Step 1: Consolidate any non-Direct Loans (e.g., FFELs or Perkins Loans) into the Direct Loan Program by Dec. 31, 2023. If you fail to do so, you will lose your opportunity to get PSLF credit for the payments you made on those loans. Consolidate on the U.S. Dept. of Education’s website.

• Not sure of your loan types? Review these instructions.

Step 2: Even if some or all of your loans are Direct Loans, consider whether consolidating your loans together will speed up forgiveness on your more recent loans.

Step 3: File PSLF Forms to certify your employment. If you don’t have approved employment certifications on file with MOHELA, the PSLF servicer, for all your past qualifying employment periods since Oct. 1, 2007, file a PSLF Form to certify each uncertified period.

• Download a PSLF Form. Complete Page 1, but only include the last four digits of your Social Security number on the form.
• Email the PSLF Form from your mass.gov email account, with Page 1 completed, to masshremployeeservicecenter@mass.gov. Include your Employee ID number in the body of the email.
• Unless otherwise notified, the Employee Service Center will sign and complete the form within 10 business days.
• After receiving your PSLF Form back from the Employee Service Center, fill in the remainder of your Social Security number, and submit your completed PSLF Form to MOHELA.
• You can fax your completed form to MOHELA at 1-866-222-7060. If MOHELA is already your servicer, you can upload your completed form on MOHELA's website.
• Signatures on your PSLF Form must be hand-drawn. Typed signatures, even if made to mimic a hand-drawn signature, or security certificate-based signatures are not accepted.

Step 4: Enroll in a qualifying repayment plan—usually an Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Plan. To keep earning credit toward PSLF you’ll need to pay under a repayment plan that qualifies for PSLF starting in January 2024. Only IDR plans and the 10-year plan qualify. For most borrowers, the new IDR plan, SAVE, will offer the most affordable payments. Enroll at StudentAid.gov/idr.

If you need to consolidate, you must do so by Dec. 31, 2023.

How Can I Learn More?

Sign up to attend one of the Attorney General's webinars or watch a prerecorded webinar:

Mass.gov/AGO/StudentLoanWebinar

Get tips from the Attorney General’s Office on how to get the most out of the 

Adjustment: Mass.gov/AGO/PSLF



Learn how Parent PLUS loan borrowers can access the SAVE plan through the double consolidation loophole: Mass.gov/AGO/ParentPLUS

Review FAQs from the U.S. Dept. of Education: StudentAid.gov/announcements-events/idr-account-adjustment