How PSLF Works
Public Service Loan Forgiveness forgives the remaining balance on Direct Loans after a borrower makes 120 qualifying monthly payments (10 years' worth, though they don't need to be consecutive) while working full-time for a qualifying employer — generally government organizations at any level, or most 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations. PSLF is a statutory program created by Congress in 2007, meaning it can't be eliminated by regulation alone; changes require either new legislation or court rulings on specific implementing rules.
What Changed for 2026
| Change | What It Means |
|---|---|
| SAVE plan ended | Vacated by a federal court (March 10, 2026) and ended by statute under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Borrowers had 90 days to pick a new plan or were auto-moved to Standard repayment. |
| RAP launched | The new Repayment Assistance Plan started July 1, 2026 — mandatory for loans first disbursed on or after that date, with payments from 1-10% of adjusted gross income and a 360-payment (30-year) forgiveness timeline. |
| IBR still standing | Income-Based Repayment remains available indefinitely for loans disbursed before July 1, 2026, and still counts toward PSLF. |
| Employer eligibility rule vacated | A Department of Education rule that would have restricted which employers count toward PSLF was struck down by courts before it took effect (June 30, 2026). |
| Buyback formula revised | The calculation for "buying back" months of non-qualifying payments changed (effective March 31, 2026) for borrowers who were enrolled in SAVE on or after July 18, 2024. |
How This Calculator Works
This calculator does simple, stable math that doesn't depend on which repayment plan you're using: it tracks how many of your 120 required qualifying payments you've made, and projects a completion date based on how many qualifying payments you expect to make per year (12 if you pay monthly without gaps). It does not calculate your actual monthly payment amount, since that depends on your specific plan, income, and loan balance — for that, use the official PSLF Help Tool at studentaid.gov, which has your actual loan servicing data.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Qualifying payments don't need to be consecutive — if you leave public service employment for a period and return, previously counted payments still count, though months spent not working for a qualifying employer don't add toward your total.
SAVE was vacated by a federal court on March 10, 2026, and ended by statute under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Borrowers who were on SAVE had to select a new qualifying repayment plan (such as IBR) or were automatically transferred to the Standard Plan after a 90-day window.
No. Unlike some other student loan forgiveness programs, amounts forgiven under PSLF are not treated as taxable income at the federal level.
The PSLF Buyback program lets eligible borrowers retroactively pay for months that didn't otherwise count as qualifying payments (for example, periods of deferment or forbearance), converting them into qualifying payments. The formula used to calculate the buyback cost was revised effective March 31, 2026 for certain SAVE-plan borrowers — contact your servicer or check studentaid.gov for your specific cost.