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I'm feeling useless and angry today and want to put something out into the world that might help somebody so here goes:
On Jan. 1, 2021, I received student loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Here's how I did it 1/
On Jan. 1, 2021, I received student loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Here's how I did it 1/
I first looked into the PSLF program in 2009. I had a job as a VAP making $48K a year. It was more money than I'd ever made in my life, but soon realized that between rent in New Haven, student loan payments, and credit card debt, it didn't go far. I needed help 2/
I wasn't really sure how student loan repayment worked at the time. My loans kept bouncing around between servicers. Like, every week I'd get a new letter. First it was Great Lakes, then Mohela, then Direct Loan. Month to month I never really knew where my money was going 3/
I heard through a friend that there might be a possibility of loan forgiveness for those working for state institutions, but I'd have to sign up to get an Income-Based Repayment plan. This sounded great, as it also reduced my monthly payments 4/
So I signed up. My monthly payments dropped by $75 a month (a lot of money when you have no money!) At the time I was serviced by Direct Loans. Fedloan didn't yet exist, but soon it would be created to deal with federal loans 5/
I paid on the IBR for several years. In 2013, I heard that you could only get loan forgiveness if your loans were serviced through Fedloan (part of the problem with many failed loan forgiveness applications is that Fedloan was a confusing clusterfuck in the beginning) 6/
I transferred my loans to Fedloan in 2013, but wanted to make sure I got credit for all the payments I'd made to Direct Loans. I spent a billionty hours on the phone with them to work this out, but eventually I got credit for 37 payments (tho two payments were "disappeared") 7/
I continued to pay under Fedloan, though they continued to be a nightmare to deal with. I started keeping meticulous records. I wrote down the operator number of everybody I spoke to on the phone and recorded exactly what they said on what date. 8/
I wasn't always consistent with my payments. I switched jobs four times. Sometimes I had no income during the summer so I went into forbearance for short periods. But I always kept records of my qualifying payments, which was good because Fedloan did always get things right. 9/
Fedloan was notoriously bad about transparency. Now, they provide a printed "Payment History" upon request. If you want to know if you are making the right kinds of payments, DEMAND that Fedloan provide you with a payment history and make sure it matches your notes. 10/
They made a lot of mistakes. Once they recalculated my monthly payments incorrectly. Like, they dropped in half one year. This seemed fishy, so I called and got them to correct the mistake and give me credit for the payment I'd made under their miscalculation. 11/
Once Fedloan finally got their shit together and started posting qualifying payments online, they "disappeared" about 20 payments for me. This led to another billionty hour conversation and, like, six months of review, but they eventually fixed it. 12/
Along the way I did a few things religiously: First, every year, I certified my employment. Literally every August, I went to Human Resources to sign the certification form that I was working 40 hours a week and sent it to Fedloan. I kept every form. 13/
I sent in my tax forms every year so they could recalculate my IBR amount (and also make sure they kept me in the correct payment program). This usually meant my payments went up every year. If it didn't I called to ask why. 14/
Any time they messed anything up, I called and got the operator number of the person on the phone and took notes of the conversation. If they said a review would take six months, I'd mark six months on my calendar and follow up. 15/
When I finally reached 120 payments, I requested administrative forbearance and sent in my application. I sent a separate application for each of the four schools where I worked and certified my employment AGAIN for each application. All were state schools (of varying sizes). 16/
The short of it is: If you are in a publicly-funded job that qualifies for this program, 1) Transfer your loans to Fedloan 2) Get in IBR or IDR plan 3) Certify employment every year 4) Track your payment history online and at home 5) Demand reviews and remedies for mistakes 17/
Send in that application once you hit 120! I know it seems like 10 years is forever, but time does actually move forward. The process has consumed much of my life and created great anxiety. The PSLF program has shaped what jobs I apply for. Honestly, I'm amazed it's paid off 18/
I know that student loan debt is the absolute worst. I knew I'd never get rich being a historian, but I did think I'd be able to at least pay my bills. That wasn't always the case. Please feel free to reach out if you need help. I'll try my best to answer questions. FIN/
One other thing I would advise: The digital inbox on the Fedloan website doesn't keep correspondence forever. Print out everything they send you and keep it in a file. Some of that stuff just "disappears" online...
