Who qualifies depends on the specific forgiveness program, your loan type, and your employment or income

There is no single answer to who qualifies for student loan forgiveness because different programs have different rules. Some programs forgive loans only if you work in certain jobs — teaching, nursing, public service. Others forgive loans based on your income level or how long you've been repaying. A few forgive loans after a set number of years of on-time payments, regardless of your job. The first step is knowing which program you might fit into, because being a good candidate for one program doesn't mean you may have access to for another.

The programs that exist right now are: Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), which requires 10 years of payments while working for a government agency or nonprofit; Teacher Loan Forgiveness, which requires five years of teaching in a low-income school; income-driven repayment forgiveness, which forgives remaining balance after 20 or 25 years of payments on an income-based plan; and several smaller programs for nurses, military members, and people with permanent disabilities. Each has its own income limits, loan type restrictions, and employment requirements.

Key Takeaways

  • Public Service Loan Forgiveness requires you to work full-time for a government agency or 501(c)(3) nonprofit and make 120 may have access to payments over 10 years.
  • Teacher Loan Forgiveness forgives up to $17,500 if you teach full-time for five consecutive years in a low-income school, and you must apply within 14 years of your last day of teaching.
  • Income-driven repayment forgiveness forgives your remaining balance after 20 or 25 years of payments, but only if your loans are federal Direct Loans and you're on an income-based repayment plan.
  • Private student loans do not may have access to for any federal forgiveness program, and income limits or loan balances can disqualify you from some programs even if your job or income category matches.
  • You must submit the correct form for each program, and missing deadlines or not recertifying income can cause you to lose forgiveness may be able to access.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness: government and nonprofit employment

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) forgives the remaining balance on your federal Direct Loans after you make 120 may have access to monthly payments while working full-time for a U.S. government agency (federal, state, local, or tribal) or a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The payments do not have to be consecutive, but they must be made under an income-driven repayment plan or the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan. You must work full-time, which the Department of Education defines as at least 30 hours per week.

To track your progress toward 120 payments, you can submit the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Employment Certification Form (Form 10-F1) to the Department of Education. This form confirms your employer qualifies and counts how many payments you've made so far. You can submit it as often as you want — many people submit it annually to make sure their count is accurate. If you change employers, you need to submit a new form for each employer, because the count is tied to your employment history, not just the number of payments.

The most common reason people lose PSLF may be able to access is working for an employer that does not may have access to. Universities, hospitals, and nonprofits sometimes do not have 501(c)(3) status, or they have a for-profit subsidiary that employs you. Your employer's human resources department can tell you whether you work for a 501(c)(3), or you can search the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool online. If you are unsure, submit the employment certification form anyway — the Department of Education will tell you whether your employer counts.

Teacher Loan Forgiveness: five years in a low-income school

Teacher Loan Forgiveness forgives up to $17,500 of your federal student loans if you teach full-time for five consecutive school years in a low-income elementary or secondary school. The school must be in a school district that qualifies based on the percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch. You can check whether a specific school qualifies using the Department of Education's Teacher Loan Forgiveness School Lookup tool.

You must apply for Teacher Loan Forgiveness within 14 years of your last day of teaching at a may have access to school. If you stop teaching and wait too long to apply, you lose the forgiveness. The application is the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Application (Form 10-F2), and you submit it to your loan servicer. You will need to provide proof of employment, such as a letter from your school district or a copy of your contract, showing the dates you taught and that the school was low-income during those years.

Teacher Loan Forgiveness applies only to federal loans, and the amount forgiven depends on which subject you taught and whether you taught special education. Math, science, and special education teachers can have up to $17,500 forgiven. Teachers in other subjects can have up to $5,000 forgiven. If you have both subsidized and unsubsidized loans, the forgiveness applies to whichever loan type you choose.

Income-driven repayment forgiveness: 20 or 25 years of payments

If you enroll in an income-driven repayment plan — Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), Income-Based Repayment (IBR), or Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) — any remaining balance on your federal Direct Loans is forgiven after you make payments for 20 or 25 years, depending on the plan. REPAYE and PAYE forgive after 20 years if you borrowed only for undergraduate study, or 25 years if you borrowed for graduate or professional study. IBR and ICR forgive after 25 years regardless of what you borrowed for.

Your monthly payment on an income-driven plan is calculated based on your discretionary income — your adjusted gross income minus 150 percent of the federal poverty line for your family size. If your income is very low or you have a large family, your payment could be $0 per month. You still must recertify your income every year, and you must stay enrolled in the plan for the full 20 or 25 years. If you switch to a different repayment plan, your count resets to zero.

Income-driven repayment forgiveness applies only to federal Direct Loans. If you have Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) or Perkins Loans, you must consolidate them into a Direct Consolidation Loan first. Private student loans do not may have access to. Also, any forgiven amount may be treated as taxable income in the year it is forgiven, which means you could owe federal income tax on the forgiven balance.

Forgiveness for nurses, military members, and people with disabilities

Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program forgives up to $60,000 in federal student loans for registered nurses who work full-time at a health care facility that serves low-income or uninsured patients. You must work there for at least two years. The program is administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and you apply directly to HRSA, not to your loan servicer.

Military members may be may be able to access for loan forgiveness through the Department of Defense or the Department of Veterans Affairs, depending on their branch and length of service. The amount and terms vary. You should contact your branch's education office or the Veterans Benefits Administration to learn what programs you might may have access to for.

If you are totally and permanently disabled, you may be may be able to access for Permanent Disability Discharge (PDD), which forgives all your federal student loans. You must provide medical evidence of your disability from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Social Security Administration, or a physician. Once approved, your loans are discharged, and you are not required to make any more payments. However, the forgiven amount may be treated as taxable income.

What disqualifies you from forgiveness programs

Private student loans do not may have access to for any federal forgiveness program. If you borrowed from a bank, credit card company, or other private lender, forgiveness is not available through the programs described here. Some private lenders offer their own forgiveness programs, but these are rare and usually limited to specific circumstances like the borrower's death or disability.

Loan type matters for most programs. PSLF and income-driven repayment forgiveness work only with federal Direct Loans. If you have FFEL or Perkins Loans, you must consolidate them into a Direct Consolidation Loan, which restarts your payment count at zero. This means consolidating late in your repayment period can cost you years of progress toward forgiveness.

Being in default on your loans disqualifies you from most forgiveness programs. If you have not made a payment in more than 270 days, your loans are in default, and you must rehabilitate them or consolidate them before you can pursue forgiveness. Rehabilitation requires making nine on-time monthly payments, after which your default status is removed.

For PSLF, working part-time instead of full-time disqualifies you, even if you work for a may have access to employer. For Teacher Loan Forgiveness, teaching in a school that does not meet the low-income threshold disqualifies you, even if you teach for five years. For income-driven repayment forgiveness, switching to a non-income-driven plan resets your count, so you lose all progress toward the 20 or 25-year mark.

How to find out which program fits your situation

Start by identifying your loan type. Log into your account at studentaid.gov, or contact your loan servicer. If you see "Direct Loan" in the loan type field, you have federal Direct Loans and may have access to for PSLF and income-driven repayment forgiveness. If you see "FFEL" or "Perkins," you do not may have access to for these programs unless you consolidate.

Next, identify your employment or income situation. If you work for a government agency or 501(c)(3) nonprofit, you may may have access to for PSLF. If you teach in a low-income school, you may may have access to for Teacher Loan Forgiveness. If your income is low relative to your loan balance, income-driven repayment forgiveness may be the best option. If you work in nursing, the military, or have a disability, check the specific program requirements.

Once you know which program might fit, contact your loan servicer or the Department of Education to confirm. Your loan servicer can tell you whether your employer qualifies for PSLF or help you enroll in an income-driven repayment plan. The Department of Education's Federal Student Aid office can answer questions about any program. You can reach them at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243).

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I get forgiveness if I'm not working right now?

It depends on the program. PSLF and Teacher Loan Forgiveness require active employment, so you must be working at a may have access to job when you apply. Income-driven repayment forgiveness does not require employment — you can be unemployed, self-employed, or retired. Your payment is based on your income, which could be zero if you have no income.

What happens if I change jobs before I reach 120 payments for PSLF?

Your payments count toward PSLF as long as each payment was made while you worked full-time for a may have access to employer. If you change to a non-may have access to job, new payments do not count, but your old payments still do. You can return to a may have access to job later and resume counting. The payments do not have to be consecutive.

Do I have to pay taxes on forgiven student loans?

For income-driven repayment forgiveness and Permanent Disability Discharge, the forgiven amount may be treated as taxable income, and you could owe federal income tax on it. PSLF and Teacher Loan Forgiveness are not taxable. Tax law can change, so check with a tax professional about your specific situation.

Can I pursue more than one forgiveness program at the same time?

You cannot receive forgiveness from two programs for the same loan, but you can be working toward different programs if you have multiple loans. For example, you could be making PSLF payments on one loan while another loan is on an income-driven repayment plan. Once one loan is forgiven, you cannot use those payments toward a different program.

What if my employer says they are a nonprofit but I'm not sure they're a 501(c)(3)?

Search the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool online using your employer's name. If they appear in the database with 501(c)(3) status, they may have access to for PSLF. If they do not appear, ask your human resources department for their IRS information letter. You can also submit the PSLF Employment Certification Form — the Department of Education will verify your employer's status and tell you whether it counts.