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Borrowers with spousal consolidation loans need to act soon for PSLF
October 20, 2022
Borrowers with spousal consolidation loans who want to take advantage of the limited Public Service Loan Forgiveness waiver will need to act soon.
The “limited PSLF waiver” refers to the time-limited changes to Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program rules that allow borrowers to receive credit for past periods of repayment that would otherwise not qualify for PSLF. This opportunity ends on October 31, 2022.
Borrowers with spousal consolidation loans could not take advantage of this limited PSLF waiver previously. However, on October 11, 2022, the President signed the "Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act," to permit borrowers to separate joint consolidation loans, enabling some borrowers to pursue public service loan forgiveness if qualified.
It will take some time for the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to implement changes for borrowers to request separation of their joint consolidation loan into individual consolidation loans. In the meantime, ED has established a specific process for borrowers with these loans to let ED know they want to take advantage of the limited PSLF waiver.
For the list of specific steps, visit the PSLF Waivers offers way to get closer to loan forgiveness page on the StudentAid.gov website.
Once ED implements the changes to separate joint consolidation loans, borrowers will need to take additional steps and accounts will be adjusted to reflect any PSLF credits.
Updated instructions as of October 21, 2022:
If you are unable to use the PSLF Help Tool because you have $0 loan balance:
- Submit a manual PSLF form.
- Download and complete the form with your signature dated as of October 31, 2022, and attach it as a reconsideration request with the description, "I am a borrower impacted by the Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act."
- While ED encourages you to get your employer to sign the form, ED will accept a form without an employer signature if you are affected by this technical issue of a $0 loan balance. You will have to submit the reconsideration request by October 31, 2022, and eventually get the form signed by your employer.