In a nutshell:
Past loan payments that were not eligible to count towards the 120 PSLF payments NOW COUNT! The eligibility rules have changed.
Significantly in your favor.
Back in the day, in order for a loan payment to count towards the 120 PSLF payments, you had to be working full time at a Qualified Employer and:
-Enrolled in PSLF
-Repaying your loan through a specific repayment plan (Income Derived Repayment Plan (IDR) or Standard Repayment Plan (SRP)
-Loan payment had to be on time
-Loan payment had to be the full amount
-Loan had to be a Direct Loan
Now, with the new changes to PSLF, you still need to be working full time for a QE, but these past payments now count:
-Payments made while not enrolled in PSLF count
-All repayment plans count
-Late payments count
-All payment amounts count
-Many more federal loan types count— if consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan before 10/31/22
Loan payments that you made in the past, while not enrolled in PSLF, can now be applied to PSLF. That means you can enroll now, for the first time, and any payments you made in the past while working for a QE can be applied towards your 120 payment goal.
If you were already enrolled in the PSLF, past loan payments that were late or not the full amount can also now count.
| Olden Days (Pre-Waiver) | Modern Times (With Waiver) |
| Work full time at QE | Work full time at QE |
| Enrolled in PSLF | Don’t have to be enrolled for past payments to count. Must be enrolled in PSLF for future payments to count. |
| Income Driven Repayment Plan (IDR) | For past payments, any repayment plan counts. For future payments, must be Income Driven Repayment plan. |
| Loan payment must be on time | Late payments count |
| Loan payment must be full amount | Partial payments count |
| Only Direct Loans eligible | Many more types of federal loans now eligible–IF consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan FFELP now eligible: Stafford, Grad PLUS & FFELP Consolidated Loans Perkins loans now eligible |
