Public Service Loan Forgiveness

Available to full-time employees of U.S. federal, state, local, or tribal government or not-for-profit organization, this program forgives the remaining balance on your Direct Loans after you have made 120 monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan.

Entering into PSLF or another forgiveness program requires a commitment to see it through to the end. Switching to an income-driven repayment plan (required if you are working towards PSLF) may actually cause your student debt to increase over time, which can be problematic unless you get forgiveness at the end. If you know you will not be working fulltime in a non-profit for 120 months, then forgiveness may not be the right path for you.  Individuals may want to consult their personal tax or legal adviser before making any decisions regarding the status of their student loans.

PSLF program requirements are listed below.

• Full time employment in public service
• Loans through the federal Direct Loan program
• Enrollment in an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan
• 10 years of monthly payments

Eligibility is based on these and other factors, including income, debt amount, number of dependents, and other personal information.

In less than 20 minutes, Savi can help determine your eligibility and assist in the enrollment process.

PSLF is necessarily paired with an income-driven repayment plan. These are repayment plans that take into account your income, student debt, and personal situation and may result in lower monthly payments. The plans that qualify you for PSLF include IBR, ICR, PAYE, and REPAYE. The Standard repayment plan technically qualifies as well, but since this plan spans only 10 years, you wouldn’t have any balance left to forgive after 120 qualifying monthly payments.

TIAA has joined forces with Savi, a social impact technology company, to help you navigate federal student loan programs. Their student loan solution will help you identify eligibility for federal income-driven repayment plans and forgiveness programs designed specifically for people who work at eligible public interest employers, that is, at a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit school, university or hospital; in government or approved governmental entities; or at a few other public interest organizations.

This service is designed to make that process easier if you are eligible and applying.

You can think of Savi as an advocate and a concierge for your student debt journey. You can visit their site to get a better estimate of how much you can save. It takes about 20 minutes and you’ll be asked to provide information about your income, taxes, family, and student debt. Savi’s calculator will take all that into account to show you a recommended course of action. Once you understand your options, you can decide if you want to proceed with any of the available programs.

As of December 31, 2022, based on Savi’s internal measurements, Savi users saw average projected savings of $140 per month and an average projected forgiveness of $40,000 per borrower.

There are two service tiers available to borrowers.  1. A free calculator to assess their situation and get guidance on the best options available. 2. For $60 per calendar year, you can enroll in Savi’s Essential service. Savi will administer the program’s ongoing paperwork requirements including annual reenrollment, employer certifications, and filing for PSLF credits with the DOE.  This service helps borrowers avoid common and not-so-common errors and to stay in compliance with exacting rules. Middlebury College covers the cost of Savi Essential when you use your Middlebury College email address at enrollment.

Go to TIAA.org/middleburycollege/studentloans and follow the path to explore your federal forgiveness options. You’ll need three things to use Savi effectively:

1. Your social security number (format: 123-45-6789)
2. The first page of your most recent tax transcript* or tax return

*A tax transcript is a summary of your recent tax filings that can be requested from the IRS (Internal Revenue Service). Each transcript includes important information for applying to new student loan repayment plans, such as your filing status, adjusted gross income (AGI), wages, and more. You can request a copy of a tax transcript in about 5 minutes by visiting https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript

3. Logins to any loan servicers

Your login information includes username or email, password, and anything else required to log into your student loan servicer’s website. Your student loan servicer website is the place you go to make payments on your student loans. This information will be used to import your student loan details into Savi during the account setup process.

Student debt you’ve incurred on behalf of children (Parent PLUS loans) may qualify for relief.  You may need to first consolidate them to Direct Consolidation loans; the tool will help steer you in the right direction.

To be eligible for forgiveness, you must be a full-time employee of an eligible public interest employer, that is, at a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit school, university or hospital; in government or approved governmental entities; or at a few other public interest organizations. 

You need to recertify your income annually, but if your income decreases at any point OR you added a dependent (or even become pregnant), you can submit IDR paperwork to have your payment recalculated immediately to try to lower your monthly payments.

No. Once you’re a registered user on Savi’s website, you can try out the free tool first, and decide later if you’d like to take advantage of the optional administrative services available in the Savi Essential. Each year you will be asked if you want to continue with the service and pay the annual fee or not.

Attend a webinar and you’ll see how Savi can help you get started with finding your best repayment plan and forgiveness options and hear about the latest Department of Education policy updates. Register today at TIAA.org/middleburycollege/studentloans.