Hello, FTC Reminds Student Loan Borrowers That Waivers For Forgiveness End October 31, 2022

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is reminding student loan borrowers that they have until October 31, 2022, to submit an application for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Limited Waiver.

The waiver has already proven its worth to thousands of student loan borrowers who have used it to get closer to total loan forgiveness. 

The FTC says there are two groups that the waiver benefits the most: (1) people who have Federal Direct Loans or can consolidate other types of federal student loans into a Direct Loan by October 31; and (2) those who have a work history with qualifying public service employers.

Until that October 31 deadline, securing a waiver gives borrowers credit for repayment periods that previously wouldn’t have counted.

Those would include the following times:

• When a borrower didn’t make a payment
• When a borrower didn’t make a payment on time
• When a borrower didn’t pay the full amount due 
• When a borrower wasn’t on a qualifying repayment plan

The steps to take advantage of the waiver

Here’s the short version of how consumers can take advantage of the waiver:

• Log into the borrower’s Federal Student Aid account. The borrower should use their Federal Student Aid ID to access Studentaid.gov and complete the PSLF Limited Waiver requirements.
• Submit the PSLF form. Consumers can use the PSLF Help Tool to verify the current and past employees that they want credit for and submit the PSLF form.
• Confirm (or consolidate into) Direct Loans. The waiver only applies to Direct Loans, so borrowers need to consolidate their existing federal loans by October 31, 2022. The process is free through studentaid.gov. If someone is unsure about what types of loans they have, all they have to do is take a look at their FSA Aid Summary.

If there are questions that the instructions for those steps don’t answer, borrowers can go to StudentAid.gov’s comprehensive list of FAQs to help find the answers they’re looking for reports Consumer Affairs.