Hi Heather,

Let’s say I enroll in IBR and then a year later get a job as a librarian full time. Can I then enroll in PSLF? Or do I have to do that at the exact same time that I enroll in IBR to begin with?

Thanks!
Abby

You don’t really “enroll” in pslf.  After 120 qualifying payments, you apply for forgiveness.  To aid that process,  you can (and should) periodically submit employment certification forms to the dept if ed so that they can help you keep track of your qualifying payments for you along the way. 

As an example,  I started paying on IBR July 2010,  I just recently submitted a cert form to cover the last 4 years at my job.  Basically,  they say “yes,  your employment qualifies so far,  and you have made x qualifying payments so far.”

Thanks, that helps.

So let’s say I start paying IBR in 2015 working only 20 hours a week in public service and then in 2016 I get a full time public service job. Then my qualifying 120 payments would start then in 2016 and that’s okay? They don’t have to perfectly coincide when I first start IBR?

Thanks!

abby32186 - 24 May 2014 10:44 AM

Thanks, that helps.

So let’s say I start paying IBR in 2015 working only 20 hours a week in public service and then in 2016 I get a full time public service job. Then my qualifying 120 payments would start then in 2016 and that’s okay? They don’t have to perfectly coincide when I first start IBR?

Thanks!

No, you can make qualifying payments for PSLF any time, as long as you are working full time and paying on a qualifying payment plan (IBR is one.) 

Also, keep in mind that you do not even have to make all 120 payments consecutively, or at the same job even.  You just have to be able to show that you made a total of 120 qualifying payments when you apply for forgiveness down the road.  Again, a qualifying payment is any payment made during a month where you were working ‘full time’ for a ‘public service’ employer.  You might have a couple different jobs over the next 10-15 years, which is why you should keep track every year of your qualifying payments by sending in the employment certification form.

Another tip:  You can meet the “full time” requirement by having two public service jobs that add up to a total of at least 30 hours per week.

Thanks for your contributions, Red Beard!  Another point for Abby’s benefit is that although payments made while working less than full-time cannot count towards PSLF, they do bring a borrower closer to the longer-term IBR forgiveness that is not tied to employment.