Ms. Jarvis,

I am a recent law grad considering some temporary positions at qualifying nonprofits. The jobs are “full time” according to the employer - but are often to fill in for employees on medical or maternity leave.  Will making monthly payments as a full time temporary employee qualify towards the 120 payments?  I am confused by the “8 month” language in the statute. 

Thank you.

Hello.  First off, thank you for your public service!  As you know, Public Service Loan Forgiveness is earned by making payments.  A borrower has to make the right kind of payments, on the right kind of loans, while working in the right kind of job.  For more about that, start by reading through Public Service Loan Forgiveness in 5 Easy Steps and the other one-pagers on our tools page under Essential Tools for Student Loan Borrowers (http://askheatherjarvis.com/tools).

There is also a relatively new Employment Certification process you ought to consider (http://askheatherjarvis.com/blog/3-documents-everyone-in-government-and-nonprofit-services-needs-right-n).

Here are a couple of other informative links that may help answer your questions:
http://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/files/public-service-loan-forgiveness.pdf
http://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/files/public-service-loan-forgiveness-common-questions.pdf

After reviewing these documents and links, please let us know if other questions come up.

Best,

James Jarvis
Communications Director
Heather Jarvis, Student Loan Expert LLC