Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) is a federal student loan provision establishing a pathway to have certain student loans forgiven tax-free after ten years of qualifying payments.
PSLF is a benefit you apply for and might receive IF you do all of the right things for a period of at least 120 months, or 10 years. To be eligible for PSLF, you must have made 120 monthly on-time payments to Federal Direct Loans using an income-driven repayment plan (ICR, IBR, PAYE, REPAYE/SAVE) or a standard 10-year plan while working full-time as an employee of a federal, state, tribal entity or 501c3 organization. If you’re working towards PSLF or expect to receive PSLF in the future, submit the PSLF Employment Certification Form at least annually to be sure.
Veterinarians may qualify for PSLF if they work in academia (every U.S. veterinary teaching hospital is a 501c3 nonprofit), shelters, zoos, aquariums, as state veterinarians, military veterinarians, USDA veterinarians or any other federal government agency, other university research positions, lab animal medicine, many wildlife organizations, or teaching in veterinary technician programs (excluding private, for-profit school programs), just to name a few.
The most direct path to PSLF for Veterinarians
Here's a guide to the fastest route to Public Service Loan Forgiveness:
***Caution: Recent court rulings have blocked the SAVE repayment plan and paused applications for other IDR plans. Anyone who is trying to start their path to PSLF or switch repayment plans may experience delays in logging their PSLF progress.***
1. Apply for a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan immediately after graduation during your grace period. We also have a New Graduate Veterinarian Student Loan Repayment Playbook webinar and toolkit you can review. If you’re already in repayment or consolidation doesn’t make sense for you, skip to step 5.
2. During the Consolidation application, choose to waive/end your remaining grace period (select the "Do Not Delay Processing" option) so your loans begin repayment immediately after your consolidation is complete, ideally before you start your qualifying PSLF position.
3. Choose any available loan servicer on the Direct Consolidation Loan application. Unfortunately, all of the loan servicers are terrible so there is no benefit to choosing one over another at this time. Watch your loan servicer closely for mistakes and verify anything you are told. Follow along in the consolidation application and PSLF employment certification process carefully. If something does not seem right, ask! Veterinarians and veterinary students can post in the Student Debt Message Board area for assistance.
4. Apply for an income-driven repayment plan during the Consolidation application. Choose the plan that will result in the lowest minimum monthly payment allowable based on your income and family situation, usually PAYE or REPAYE/SAVE.
5. After a few months of payments, submit a PSLF Employment Certification & Application Form.
6. Renew your income-driven repayment plan each year on time or whenever your income decreases.
7. Continue to submit PSLF Employment Certification Forms annually to document your PSLF progress. You can see your documented progress in your student aid file when you upload your file to the VIN Foundation My Student Loans tool. Check the "PSLF Status" tab for your progress > "ACCUMULATED PSLF TIME (months)".
8. Verify that your PSLF qualifying payment counts match your expectations.
9. After making 120 qualified monthly PSLF payments, apply for forgiveness. You must be still working for a PSLF-qualified employer when you apply. You also should remain in income-driven repayment while your forgiveness application is processed.
10. Celebrate tax-free loan forgiveness!
Special PSLF opportunities