Public-service loan forgiveness for college loans: How it works and why some borrowers are missing out
Employees of a U.S. federal, state, local or tribal government or nonprofit organization can be eligible for public-service student loans. Shown, the campus of UCLA on Dec. 3. Photo: Image Of Sport/Zuma Press By Cheryl Winokur Munk Updated Jan. 9, 2021 9:00 am ET
Many student-loan borrowers are confused by the basic requirements of federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which could lead to missed opportunity.
The program, established by statute in 2007, has gotten a bad rap because of its complexities and because many student-loan borrowers thought they were on the path to forgiveness but weren’t. Instead, they learned, years later, that their payments didn’t qualify or that they were further away from forgiveness than they had thought.