I remember seeing a post recently that ECFs are now delayed in processing. My recent history, from employer signature to FSA processing (“PSLF form review”) is:
August 18 -> August 19 (1 day)
September 1 -> September 6 (5 days)
September 30 -> still waiting (7 days so far)
Has anyone had one processed recently? Getting concerned about my last one…
Edit: it sounds like they’ve stopped processing these. Please continue to add data.
Hey All- Wondering if anyone has any insight. I'm part of the July/Aug/Sept purgatory group, with September being my 120th. I went through the NSLDS and confirmed the eligible payment count reflects those months, so I was going to recertify employment to trigger the updated count.
The question is, when it asks for if I made 120 payments, should I say "yes" in this instance, or should I recertify first, and then if/when the numbers are updated, do it again and select the 120 being made?
My NSLDS under PSLF is saying 119 eligible payment counts and 115 qualifying. The NSLDS was updated today 10/7. My PSLF tracker on FSA is stuck at 115 because August is missing, September was incorrectly marked late and ineligible, and July 2025 should have been marked eligible because I was in a processing forbearance from MOHELA. Payment is due on the 5th, so should I manually submit an ECF next month and request forgiveness but not check the forbearance box? The FSA system will not let me submit for forgiveness because of the data glitch going on with the tracker. Any advice would be much appreciated! Thank you!
Autopay (for my 121st payment) was made on Monday (10/5). I submitted an ECF the same morning. HR promptly certified. Payment showed up on Mohela as received on Tuesday (10/6).
At 2:53 AM today (10/7), the NSLDS back door updated by one eligible payment count. This would represent October!
July shows up on the FSA website as qualifying. August doesn’t show up at all. September says ineligible due to delinquent payment.
In September, I did the same process of submitting an ECF the day after I made autopayment, and it updated on NSLDS back door. That time it jumped by two eligible payment counts, which would/should represent August and September.
Unfortunately the FSA counter still shows 118 and the NSLDS also still shows 118. However, it’s progress. Two months in a row the NSLDS updated the day after the ECF was received. It’s a crazy coincidence or the ECF is triggering it behind the scenes.
This is absolutely ridiculous.
It’s that time to recertify IBR. According to the Repayment Plan calculator on student aid, my payment amount is $288/mo on the standard 10 year plan. $577/mo if I stick with IBR.
Spoke with an EdFinancial Rep from their PSLF department and he indicated that under TEPSLF, payments under the 10-year standard plan would count toward forgiveness. But that if and when TEPSLF goes away, I would need to switch to a different PSLF eligible repayment plan. The studentaid repayment calculator also had that plan as PSLF eligible. And it is also listed here: https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service#qualifying-repayment-plans
I have 11 years of eligible employment but not quite at the 120 payment mark since i attended undergrad while employed for a state government agency.
Terrified if I opt for the lower payment I will screw something over and not be eligible to apply for buyback in December of 2027. I need to buyback about 18 months total of SAVE forbearance and other admin forbearances.
Can I request this information in writing from my servicer or studentaid just to cover myself?
I hate this feeling of uncertainty and chaos.
Can someone please give me a step by step of what they did when they hit 120? I know that I want to ask for some kind of forebearance after I make that payment, but do I have to recertify employment one more time after I hit 120 as well?
I'm in extra panic mode because I just recertified my income and my next (and goddamnit last) payment is more than $250 more than it has been.
Thanks in advance for any sage wisdom!
I have been in PAYE for 9 years, all counting towards PSLF. I recertified for the first time since 2020 recently and no longer have a partial financial hardship, so my payment is now the capped amount.
Since my payments went up, the payments are not counting as qualifying payments on studentaid.gov (July-Sept 2026). I have called my servicer Edfinancial and confirmed I am still on PAYE and should be making qualifying payments. I have submitted another ECF since making these payments which was approved. They say it’s a studentaid.gov issue, but everything I have seen on Reddit say the issues are limited to July and August. Is anyone else in this situation? Thank you!
I just wanted to provide everyone with a Mohela customer service wait time reference point, given how long they can be sometimes, in case that helps anyone else in planning calls to them. I called the customer service line this morning, Wednesday, October 7th, at about 8:20 a.m. EST. I called 1-888-866-4352, listened to about two minutes of their notices, then when given a menu of options, I pressed 6 for "more options." It then asked for my social security # or account #, and the last four digits of a phone number on file, and then gave me a second menu of options, where I chose 5 for all other questions. Then it had me listen to a couple more minutes of notices, but an initial representative answered almost immediately thereafter. My question was related to forbearances, so of course she transferred me to an advanced agent, and from there I waited approximately 20 minutes for that person to answer.
That was about the same amount of time, maybe a little less, when I called on a Tuesday back in July and was transferred to an advanced agent. I also called that day around the same time in the morning. Today, I also called back at about 9:15 a.m. just to check the prompts before writing this post to make sure I was accurate and the approximate wait time for the initial agent was still only 30 seconds (I have no idea what the wait time for an advanced agent would have been at that point, though).
All in all, not terrible, and the moral of the story is call before 8:30 on any day that is not a Monday (I heard Mondays are atrocious). I've seen horror stories of people waiting hours or having to take an entire day off to spend all of that time waiting on hold, so I hope this provides a little help to anyone else who is also trying to navigate this ridiculous storm.
Hello all,
I have a question. I want to know if anyone else has received an email like this and how long does this process take.
Here is some background info: I applied for buyback in December 2 2024. I received an email from federal student aid on 7.22.2026. Here is what the email says
"Thank you for submitting a Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and Temporary Expanded PSLF (TEPSLF) Reconsideration request. We have completed your PSLF buyback assessment.
Some or all your loans are eligible for PSLF buyback at this time. To ensure you are paying the lowest amount for your PSLF buyback, submit the following income and family size information within 30 days.
2012, 2013 and 2014.
Take Action: Submit the income and family size information by opening a new reconsideration request.
Important: If you were not required to file a federal income tax return for the year requested, upload a statement detailing your taxable income for the year.
You must provide information of all taxable income you and your spouse (if applicable) received for the year requested.
How to Determine Your Family Size for the Year Requested: Family size includes your spouse only if you filed your federal tax return as married filing jointly unless you have indicated that you are separated from your spouse. Family size also includes other people only if they live with you now, receive more than half their support from you now, and will continue to receive this support for the year that you certify your family size. Support includes money, gifts, loans, housing, food, clothes, car, medical and dental care, and payment of college costs. Your family size may be different from the number of exemptions you claim for tax purposes.
I have at least 120 months of approved qualifying employment, and I am seeking PSLF or TEPSLF discharge through PSLF buyback. Please assess my eligibility for PSLF buyback. I am providing the requested income and family size information. My family size is: [enter your family size here], and I have uploaded income document for the year(s) requested.
Important: Do not open a Buyback Request. You must include the statement above. Without the statement above, your PSLF Reconsideration submission will not be considered related to your buyback, and your income and family size information will not be used for your PSLF buyback assessment.
Upload your federal income tax return from the year requested onto your reconsideration request.
Submit your reconsideration request.
If you do not send us the tax and family size information that we request within 30 days, we will determine your PSLF buyback amount as what your payment amount would be on the 10-year Standard Plan.
For information on PSLF buyback, visit Studentaid.gov/pslfbuyback.
This buyback request is closed.
Important: A processing pause began on May 1, 2024, for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program as we update and streamline our systems for a better user experience. You can continue to submit your PSLF forms during this pause, and we will begin processing them when the update is complete. Visit StudentAid.gov/publicservice for the most up-to-date information on PSLF and TEPSLF.
Sincerely,
Federal Student Aid"
So they closed by buyback request, because they need to get tax information from me. But at the same time they need the tax information in order to process the buyback. Its contradictory.
I did obtain the tax information from the IRS and i did submit the documentation to federal student aid under a new reconsideration request per the emails instructions. on 7.31.26.
Has anyone else been asked to do this? How long does this take?