确定您或您的孩子是否有资格获得公共服务贷款豁免

学生贷款债务这个长期以来的热门话题再次成为头条新闻。这一次，这是因为拜登政府已经明确表示，它正在推进改革公共服务贷款豁免计划的计划——教育部长米格尔卡多纳(米格尔卡多纳)表示，3万名借款人将免除多达20亿美元的债务。

作为这项努力的一部分，原本没有资格获得PSLF宽恕的借款人现在有资格获得一段有限的时间。这是由于对PSLF计划相关规则的各种临时豁免，这些规则对于决定获得宽恕的资格至关重要。豁免的结果是，在长期存在（但往往功能失调)的PSLF项目下，政府和非营利组织的员工将更容易获得学生贷款豁免。

这可是个大新闻。尤其是那些深陷上述债务的人。

对许多借款人来说，这些变化改变了他们的生活。"已经有新闻报道和令人眼花缭乱的社交媒体帖子称，借款人看到他们的全部联邦学生贷款债务被这些暂时放松的规定抹去了，"学生贷款英雄的注册学生贷款顾问和教育金融专家安德鲁彭蒂斯告诉家长。对于那些债务可能不会在一夜之间消失的借款人来说，宽松的规定至少会帮助他们看到隧道尽头的曙光。

但是，根据临时豁免，你（或你的孩子)是否有资格被免除债务，这确实是一个百万美元的问题。以下是你需要知道的，以弄清这个紧迫问题的真相。

What types of loans qualify for forgiveness under the PSLF waiver?

值得注意的是，只有联邦学生贷款有资格获得PSLF宽恕计划。换句话说，父母加贷款是不可忽略的。根据联邦学生资助网站，"根据有限的PSLF豁免，父母加贷款的还款期不符合条件。"

Related:我们赚了六位数，但是学生贷款和日托让我们破产了2

Which student loan

s will qualify?

More than 600,000 student borrowers stand to benefit under the Biden Administration's waiver of PSLF requirements, which could translate into billions of dollars in student loan forgiveness.

"Borrowers with federal student loans, including loans in the Direct Loan, FFEL and Federal Perkins Loan programs, can qualify for the PSLF waiver," continues Kantrowitz.

If you have Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) loans, federal Perkins loans, or other types of federal student loans that are not Direct Loans (in other words loans from older programs), such as Federally Insured Student Loans [FISL] or National Defense Student Loans [NDSL]—you must consolidate those loans into the Direct Loan program by October 31, 2022 in order to qualify for forgiveness. 

To determine exactly what type of loans you have, log in to Aid Summary to obtain the details.

"You will need to consolidate them into a Federal Direct Consolidation loan by the deadline. And don't dawdle, as it can take 45 days or more for loans to be consolidated," advises Kantrowitz.

What exactly has changed to allow more people to qualify for forgiveness?

This is where we get into the weeds just a bit regarding the rules surrounding the PSLF program and eligibility for loan forgiveness both now and prior to the waiver. The main takeaway to remember however is that up until now, the PSLF program was not providing applicants with very much relief, even though the program was created to do so. It was a reality that needed to be remedied.

"Since PSLF launched in 2007, only 16,000 participants have received forgiveness—but that's not for borrowers' lack of trying. Only 2.1 percent of applicants have been approved in the program's lifetime, which critics say is the result of rampant mismanagement, unfair review practices, and an inadequate program design from the start," says Laurel Taylor, CEO, FutureFuel.io, a platform designed to address student debt, tells Parents. "But the waiver has the potential to reach hundreds of thousands more borrowers."

• Related: Everything You Need to Know to Get Your Kid Into College

A large part of the problem up until now has been the complex and strict rules regarding who qualified for PSLF student loan forgiveness. For instance, prior to the newly announced waiver, in order to qualify for forgiveness, you must have had Direct loans, and always made on-time payments on your loans and must have made 120 qualifying payments. In addition, you must have been making loan payments under either a standard repayment plan or an income-driven repayment plan.

"The Department of Education's PSLF program has always had very particular requirements for public service employees to qualify for loan forgiveness. Applicants have always had to check off four boxes: work for a full-time qualifying employer, make 120 on-time and in-full payments, have Direct federal loans, and be enrolled in a qualifying income-driven repayment plan," debt attorney Leslie Tayne, of Tayne Law Group, tells Parents.

Here's how those rules have changed as part the temporary waiver:

• Applicants receive credit for periods of repayment made on more than just Direct loans to include FFEL, or Perkins loans
• Past payments under any type of repayment plan count for non-consolidation loans through Sept 30, 2021.
• Past payments made on loans before consolidation count, even if they were made on the wrong type of repayment plan.
• Late payments will no longer hold you back. Past payments that were made late or for less than the monthly amount due count for non-consolidation loans through Sept 30, 2021.
• Past payments made on loans before consolidation count, even if paid late, or for less than the amount due.
• The requirement that you be employed full-time for a qualifying employer in order to receive credit is being waived

"Under normal circumstances, borrowers are eligible to have any remaining balance on federal Direct Loans forgiven after they make 120 on-time payments while enrolled in a qualified repayment plan and employed full-time in the public sector or at a nonprofit," says Taylor. "But with the waiver, any ineligible payments you've already made will now count towards your 120-payment requirement."

Getting credit for previously ineligible or "lost" payments will move many borrowers closer to the finish line of eventually receiving PSLF relief. The Education Department estimates that the average borrower will receive credit for 23 payments toward the 120-payment requirement as a result of these new rules. That means the average borrower could expect to shave more than two years off that dreaded 10-year wait for forgiveness, says Pentis.

• Related: More Than Half of Americans Want All Student Loan Debt Forgiven

Some notable and important caveats here. You continue to need qualifying employment for a by government, 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, or other not-for-profit organization that provides a qualifying service.

What's more, periods of deferment or forbearance, and periods of default, continue to not qualify toward tabulation of the total amount of time you have been working on repaying your loans. 

What should you do right now?

In order to qualify for the PSLF Waiver, you must submit a PSLF form using the PSLF Help Tool. Either the Employment Certification Form (ECF) or an application for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) will be sufficient for your application, says Kantrowitz. 

"Both are submitted using the PSLF Help Tool," Kantrowitz explains. "You should do this even if you previously submitted an ECF or forgiveness application and were denied." 

And here's another key point: You must submit your application by October 31, 2022. Meaning, there's no time like the present to get started.

However, those with Direct loans who had already submitted applications for forgiveness but have not yet received a decision will not need to take any action, says Taylor.

"Borrowers who only have Direct Loans, have already submitted a PSLF application, and have already verified their employer's eligibility are in the clear," she says. "The Department of Education intends to automatically credit these borrowers for previously disqualified payments."