Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program

Did you know if you work full-time for the University of Florida you may qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program? Under this program, you may qualify for forgiveness of the remaining balance due on your William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program loans after you have made 120 qualifying payments while employed full-time by certain public service employers. Since you must make 120 qualifying payments on your eligible federal student loans after Oct.1, 2007, before you can qualify for the loan forgiveness, the first forgiveness of loan balances will not be granted until October 2017.

Any Direct Loan in good standing is eligible for loan forgiveness. Although loan forgiveness under this program is available only for Direct Loans, loans made under other federal student loan programs may become eligible for PSLF if they are consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan. However, only payments made on the Direct Consolidation Loan will count toward the required 120 qualifying payments.

If you do not know which types of federal student loans you have, log in to My Federal Student Aid for more information. Generally, if you see a loan type with “Direct” in the name on My Federal Student Aid, then it is a Direct Loan; otherwise, it is a loan made under another federal student loan program.

Due to the requirement to make 120 qualifying monthly payments, it will take at least ten years to become eligible for PSLF. To help determine if you are on the right track as early as possible, an Employment Certification for Public Service Loan Forgiveness form (Employment Certification form) can be submitted periodically while you are working toward meeting the PSLF eligibility requirements. The U.S. Department of Education will use the information you provide on the form to let you know if you are making qualifying PSLF payments.

The Office of Human Resource Services is happy to assist with the completion of Sections 3 and 4 of the Employment Certification for Public Service Loan Forgiveness form. Please fax to (352) 846-0668 if you are including social security information, or send to verify-employment@ufl.edu if you are not including social security information.

For answers to questions related to completion of the form, please call (352) 392-2477.  For more information about the PSLF Program, please visit https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service.