What the payment count pause means for your loans

The payment count pause is a temporary suspension of the count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and income-driven repayment plan forgiveness. During the pause, you can make payments on your federal student loans, but those payments do not add to your total toward forgiveness — even though you are still paying down the balance.

This pause was created to address a backlog of borrowers whose payment counts were miscalculated or not recorded properly over many years. The Department of Education announced the pause to give borrowers time to correct their records before the count resumes. It is not the same as a payment pause (where you stop making payments); it is a pause on the counting mechanism only.

Whether this pause affects you depends on which forgiveness program you are pursuing and when you made your payments. If you are chasing PSLF and worked in public service for years without seeing progress, this pause may have been created partly because of situations like yours.

Key Takeaways

  • The payment count pause stops counting your payments toward forgiveness, but you can still make payments and reduce your loan balance during the pause.
  • This pause applies to Public Service Loan Forgiveness and income-driven repayment plan forgiveness, not to standard 10-year repayment.
  • The pause was created to allow the Department of Education to fix payment records that were lost, miscounted, or not properly recorded from earlier years.
  • You should continue making payments during the pause if you can afford to, because the balance still goes down even though the count does not move.
  • Check your loan servicer's website or contact them directly to see whether your account was affected by the pause and when counting will resume.

Who the payment count pause affects

The pause primarily affects borrowers pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) or forgiveness through an income-driven repayment plan. If you are on a standard 10-year repayment plan with no forgiveness goal, the pause does not change anything for you — your loans will be paid off in 10 years regardless.

Within those groups, the pause is most relevant to borrowers who made payments before the pause began but did not see those payments counted toward their forgiveness total. This often happened because of servicer errors, gaps in record-keeping, or employment certification issues that were not caught at the time.

If you are currently making payments and pursuing forgiveness, you should assume the pause affects you unless your servicer tells you otherwise. The safest approach is to log into your loan account online or call your servicer and ask directly whether your payment count is currently paused.

What happens to your payments during the pause

Your monthly payment still reduces your loan balance. The principal and interest you pay go toward lowering what you owe, just as they normally would. The only thing that stops is the count toward your forgiveness milestone — so if you need 120 payments for PSLF, those payments during the pause do not move you closer to that number.

This creates a practical trade-off. You are still spending money each month, but you are not getting credit toward forgiveness. However, you are reducing the total amount you owe, which means less interest will accrue later and your balance shrinks in real terms.

Some borrowers choose to make smaller payments or pause their own payments during this period, since the count is frozen anyway. That is a personal decision based on your cash flow, but it means your balance stays higher and interest continues to build.

When the payment count pause started and when it ends

The Department of Education announced the payment count pause in 2023 as part of efforts to fix PSLF records. The exact start date and end date depend on your loan servicer and account status, so there is no single date that applies to all borrowers.

The pause is temporary, but the Department of Education has not announced a firm end date. This means the pause could last months or longer depending on how quickly servicers can process corrections and verify payment histories. You should check your loan servicer's website or contact them for information about when the pause will lift for your specific account.

When the pause ends, your servicer will resume counting payments toward forgiveness. Any payments you made during the pause will not be retroactively counted, so you will pick up where the count left off before the pause began.

How to check your payment count status

Log into your account on your loan servicer's website — the servicer name appears on your monthly statement or billing notice. Look for a section labeled "Payment History," "Forgiveness Progress," or "PSLF Status." This section should show how many payments you have made and whether your account is currently under the payment count pause.

If you cannot find this information online, call your servicer's customer service line. Have your loan account number ready and ask whether your payment count is currently paused and when it is expected to resume. Write down the date and time of the call and the name of the representative, in case you need to follow up later.

If you are pursuing PSLF specifically, you can also check your progress through the Federal Student Aid website (studentaid.gov) by logging into your account. This site pulls data from all your servicers and shows your PSLF payment count in one place.

What to do if your payment count was wrong before the pause

If you believe your payment count was incorrect before the pause began — for example, you worked in public service for five years but only three years were counted — the pause gives you a window to correct the record. Contact your loan servicer and ask them to review your employment history and payment records.

You may need to provide documentation of your employment, such as letters from your employer or pay stubs showing you worked in a may have access to public service job. The servicer can then request that the Department of Education add any missing payments to your count.

This process can take weeks or months, so start it as soon as you realize there is a discrepancy. The payment count pause is partly designed to give borrowers time to catch and fix these errors before counting resumes.

Should you keep making payments during the pause

Yes, you should continue making your regular monthly payment if you can afford it. Even though the payment does not count toward forgiveness right now, it still lowers your loan balance. That means less interest will accrue over time and you will owe less money overall.

If you are struggling to make payments, you can contact your servicer about income-driven repayment plans, which can lower your monthly payment based on your income. Some borrowers also may have access to for temporary payment relief programs, though these are separate from the payment count pause.

The key point: the pause is about counting, not about whether you should pay. Paying during the pause still helps you financially, even if it does not move you closer to forgiveness right now.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the payment count pause mean I should stop making payments?

No. Your payments still reduce your loan balance and lower the interest you will owe later. The pause only stops the count toward forgiveness, not the benefit of paying down what you owe. If you stop paying, your balance grows instead of shrinking.

Will payments I make during the pause be counted later?

No. When the pause ends and counting resumes, your count will pick up where it left off before the pause began. Payments made during the pause will not be retroactively added to your forgiveness total.

How do I know if my account is under the payment count pause?

Log into your loan servicer's website and look for payment history or forgiveness progress information. If you cannot find it online, call your servicer's customer service line and ask directly whether your payment count is currently paused.

Can I get credit for payments I made before the pause if they were not counted?

Yes, that is part of what the pause is for. Contact your servicer and ask them to review your payment history and employment records. If payments were missed or miscounted, the servicer can request that the Department of Education add them to your count.

What happens to my loan balance during the payment count pause?

Your balance continues to decrease with each payment you make, just as it normally would. Interest still accrues on the remaining balance. The only thing that does not change is your progress toward the payment count needed for forgiveness.