Hi all, I started a thread for those in July and now August purgatory (https://www.reddit.com/r/PSLF/s/gaJRC1jsDq) and have been reading all the responses there and elsewhere regarding this issue. We have one person who has said FSA indicated it could be resolved in an update by this weekend. If it is not, what do you think about organizing one day that we ALL message our congressperson about this issue? We could create a template that everyone could send. I know some of you have already contacted your reps, but it might make more of an impact if we all do the same thing at the same time. Thoughts? I’ll be honest, part of me is scared to do this because I think our government will punish us for speaking up. Obviously a scary sign of the times unfortunately.

Posting as a reference for others in a similar situation. Background: I made my 120th payment 8/2 and had an ECF fully processed on 8/8 but the August payment still hasn't shown on the PSLF tracker due to the data glitch so I'm stuck at 119. (Separately, I had been waiting on a buyback request from 6/1/25, but I decided it was worth it to pay a higher payment under PAYE just to be done faster given the absurd backlog.)

I called Mohela this morning 9/1 to request forbearance and I went with a 3 month general forbearance (8/4-11/30), just in case something goes wrong (like they tell me one of the payments doesn't count) and I need to restart payments sooner. However, you can pick your own forbearance timeline up to 1 year. I was worried that the 8/4 start date for forbearance would mess up my August payment that hasn't shown as eligible yet on the PSLF tracker, but they assured me it should not since they payment posted 8/2 and that they had to do it that way if I wanted to avoid my 9/3 payment. I hope that is correct!

The entire process took about 20 minutes including the wait times on the call, and my Mohela account showed as a $0 payment immediately (checked it while on the call).

Good luck to all of us waiting on August (+/- July) payments to show on FSA!

I myself am a July 120er. I noticed today my expected Pslf forgiveness changed from September to October. To me what says September payments won’t be updated as well.

I made my 120th payment. My count hasn't updated since July 3rd, so I'm still sitting at 116 officially. I had 1 payment mysteriously disappear (literally my count skips from May 2024 to July 2024). Mohela has re-reported that payment and had confirmed it is a qualifying payment for PSLF. I made my July 19th and August 19th payments, but they are stuck is the current July/August limbo.

I made my September 19th payment as soon as it was available and submitted my final ECF, which has been signed and is awaiting final processing with Student Aid. I have over 155 eligible payments and almost 13 years of eligible employment. I have 16 months eligible for buy back, but waiting for my August 2025 request to process seems silly.

I was in repayment in May 2024 and 5 payments shy of forgiveness when I was forced into forbearance June 2024. I applied for repayment 3 times prior to August 2025, and none of my applications were processed by Mohela. It took 5 applications and dozens of hours on the phone to get back into repaymemt and get my income updated/my payment amount reflective of my income.

I financially got my 2 months processing forbearance credit and made my last 3 payments. Now we wait...

Update 1 (9/1/26): ECF approved and finalized.still no updates on my payment count. Sitting at 116/120 since July 3rd.

90-day notice landed 60 days ago, so I’m down to about 30 days. Coming out of SAVE, planning to submit the week after Labor Day. I also have PSLF history (pre 2021) and just started a new PSLF-eligible job. My service is Mohela.

A few things I’m trying to figure out:

If you submitted recently, how long did it take before you saw a confirmation?

Does getting the application in before the deadline protect you, or does it actually have to be processed by then?

Anyone certified employment for a new employer lately? Curious how long that’s running.

Mainly trying not to get dumped into Standard because my application was still in the queue. Is three weeks enough runway?

Current outlook - I have eight remaining student loans: 5 are Stafford Unsubsidized, each with an interest rate of 6.8% and a current total balance of $ 13,315.57 and on an IDR replayment plan. The remaining 3 are a direct sub with an interest rate of 4.5% and a balance of $ 2,398.49, and 2 direct unsub, each with an interest rate of 6.8% and a total balance of $ 3,682.24 and are on the 'SAVE-Alternative' plan.

I have been working at a PSLF-approved employer for over 9 years. I should have consolidated long ago so that the 5 stafford loans could have been PSLF-approved, but regulations changed, life happened... too late for those I guess.

My payments from 03/2017 - 05/2024 (87 total) have been approved as qualifying payments. As of June 2024, I was automatically switched from 'REPAYE' to 'SAVE Alternative'. I was unaware that 'SAVE Alternative' changed my PSLF eligibility. The StudentAid.gov site has had a banner almost the entire time that states something along the lines of 'their system is working to update PSLF payment counts' so I wrongfully assumed those were just waiting to be corrected. If all of my payments since the switch were to be accepted, my 3 PSLF-qualifying loans would be eligible after my February 2027 payment. Is there anything that can be done?

Alternatively, I have until the end of this month to choose a repayment plan to replace the 'SAVE Alternative" plan. Will that affect my PSLF eligibility?

Any advice or guidance would be appreciated.

I have hit the magic 120, and on the website it indicates with my happy ribbon that I have met the 120 qualifying payments. I have submitted (again) the PSLF form and checked the box that I HAVE met that requirement.

What now? I guess I wait?

So. My 120th payment was taken from my bank on July 23rd.

July 25th, I re-certified.

Wait a few weeks, no indication that anything took, but I had requested a forbearance, so whatever probably processing time.

August 22nd forbearance cancelled.

August 23rd, 121st payment withdrawn.

Ugh, ok, whatever. I re-certify again, without requesting forbearance, on the 27th.

I call both Mohela and US Dept of Ed. Both point fingers at each other. Mohela says they can't apply forbearance because Feds haven't updated payments in system. Feds say Mohela hasn't notified them of payments.

Anyone know how I can just get this to move forward?

I see both payments on Mohela's site. Last payment I see on PSLF is June.

I have 70/120 qualifying payments and 122 months of employment. I am on save forbearance still and will be switching to an IBR by the end of the month. My question is can I apply for buyback. I have 23 ineligible months due to save forbearance. I know it’s taking like 2-3 years to process. I will continue to make payments for the meantime because I would still need 27 payments anyways. I don’t even know if I qualify for buyback though.

My payment count updated this morning. I called student aid.gov to ask what the timeline is for getting these loans discharged. They couldn’t answer my question, they said it was an “end of day process for the department of ed” and I couldn’t get any explanation as to what that means? Can anyone ballpark the timeline and next steps for me?

I have four more loans that are 3 payments away from discharge.

Thanks - for any help you can provide

I know that months with a qualifying employer while on the SAVE plan show as "ineligible - forebearance on due date". My question is how the system will know that I've technically "reached" 120 payments and qualify for buyback? Or do I have to track it myself (I've been doing that of course) and submit the form at that point?

I have an upcoming payment due date that falls on a weekend. I’m concerned Dept of Education or MOHELA will bungle this payment and label it as late.

Has anyone had a recent weekend due date that was properly handled without issue? I know July and August haven’t posted on FSA, so it might be a little difficult to tell, but the loan servicer should have it listed.

So just for context I've been a public school teacher for 12 years, have never made a single payment towards my loans before, and currently owe about 60k being serviced by Mohela. Yet according to the US student loans website I'm at 116/120 qualifying payments and need only to make four more.

I submitted a request to change from the SAVE program to ICR with a monthly payment of $569. Is there anything else I have to do aside from paying that monthly amount for the next four months? Will the US student loans website know that I submit payments to Mohela? I don't believe I have to recertify employment until next February but if I'm right I won't even have to bother doing that as my last payment should be in December.

I received my notice on July 1st that I needed to choose a new repayment plan, so I need to switch this month. I remember that previously they had an option on the form that you could check for them to choose the PSLF repayment plan with the lowest monthly payment amount.

Does this option still exist or do I need to enter my data in the simulator and go with the lowest option presented from there?

I am 12 payments away from PSLF and coming off SAVE forbearance. I’ve been reading the issues with Auto pay and even though that is how I’ve always paid in the past, this close to the finish line, I need every payment to count. What is the recommended way to pay? My payment due date and auto payment are set to process on 9/17 which is what it shows on Mohela. On Student Aid.gov it shows my due date is 9/16. One day could mean the difference between it counting or not counting, so I would like to cancel auto pay and pay manually.

Hi all, my first job out of law school was a 9 month federal clerkship. I submitted certification right when I started that processed on October 9, 2025 but for some reason (I just found this out now) the certification period was only from August 18-September 8, 2025, so none of my payments from August 2025-May 2026 counted.

Does anyone know why this happened and if there is any way I could retroactively get those payments to count?

TIA

MOHELA sent a notice July 1st that my SAVE plan application has been denied. Within that letter, it indicates I have 90 days to select a new plan or if not I will be put back on the plan I was before SAVE. Then on 08/25 I received a notice with the subject being “you have 90 days to select a new repayment plan” and if I don’t select new plan in 90 days I’ll be placed on standard repayment.

I know my SAVE app was accepted and I made one payment under the SAVE plan. Anyone else received two notices like this? I’d of course like to believe the second one is accurate and that I have 90 days from 08/25 …

I’m trying to figure out the best way to handle a somewhat unusual PSLF situation.

In theory, I became eligible for PSLF around February/March 2025. At that point, I had 120 months of qualifying employment, but I had 8 months in the SAVE forbearance that I needed to buy back in order to reach 120 qualifying payments.

Unfortunately, I was caught up in the federal government RIFs around that time and wasn't paying as much attention to my student loans as I should have. I didn't submit my PSLF buyback request until July 2025.

I was fortunate enough to get another job, but my new employer does not qualify for PSLF. That means I can't make payments for those eight months while I wait for the buyback process to be resolved.

My understanding is that, since SAVE has now ended, I need to move into another repayment plan. I'm also considering requesting a general forbearance while I wait for the buyback request to be processed, particularly since I haven't previously used my general forbearance allowance.

If my general forbearance request is denied and I have to start making payments under a different repayment plan, what happens to those payments?

• Would they reduce the amount I'd ultimately have to pay for the eight-month buyback?
• Or would they simply be payments toward the loan that have nothing to do with the buyback?

September is 120 months of eligible employment; but due to the SAVE forbearance plus Mohela taking a year and a half to process the application to get back on a payment plan- I have to buy back a fair amount.

I realize the recent months payments are not posting as qualified payments due to a glitch. Would I be correct in assuming that this does not derail my ability to apply for buyback? Since I would think only the months of employment are needed for buyback.

Presumably, those payments would be fixed before they get around to calculating my buyback in like two years lol

Hi all! I tried to research past posts and may have missed something but hoping someone can offer some insight. I spoke with Mohela for a while today and can't tell if this answer is accurate. I am currently in "repayment" after being taken off a (erroneous but that's beside the point) forbearance. My repayment schedule starts in December but I auto paid a few months already before I realized. I want to cancel my auto pay and keep that money in my pocket until I'm absolutely required to pay, AND I want to maximize my PSLF payment count at the same time. Mohela said even if I cancel my autopay and do not pay, the intervening months between now and when my next payment is officially due WILL count for PSLF.

I can of course try it and watch my payment tracker but that'll take a few months to know how it's being handled. Any advice? Thank you in advance!!

So, I got my payment amount today and it’s more than I expected. Now, I’m on PSLF, so I’m trying to pay as little as I can.

This year, I’ll be doing married filing separately to tank my payment.

Once I do that, can I immediately go and decertify my income and get a new payment amount?

I truly apologize if this info already exists, I just want to be ready to redo my loan application as soon as I freaking can.

I submitted a wet signature for income recertification for my IBR plan on 6/7/26. Then, on 6/16 I received a notification regarding a processing delay. My recertification deadline was on 6/15/26. I'm not in a "Awaiting Documentation Administrative Forbearance"-Ends 09/21/2026

I did a wet signature b/c when trying to complete the Student Aid portal, it was giving me a weird error about changing IDR plans, when it was just a recertification.

As of today, no updates on recertification of my loan. I'm also in that weird year of 2014 (new vs old IBR) and debating if I should submit a student aid application to switch to PAYE for lower payments (appears to be calculating correctly based on my spouse's income/loans). Anyone have experience in this or thoughts?

Hi everyone. I was hoping someone could help me and I’m sorry if this is confusing and not eloquent—I feel so many of you have a better grasp on this than I do.
I have been working at a public university since August 2016, so just hit 10 years. Took out additional loans for grad school in 2018/2019. I consolidated (which I think now was dumb? But too little too late) in April 2024.
I switched to an IBR plan this past February. I recertified my employment in December 2025. I got an email yesterday saying I needed to recertify my IBR by October or else my payment would move to $619 (it’s currently $170). I was confused since I recertified in December and usually only do it once a year.
I just got off the phone with FSA and they were absolutely unhelpful. The woman must’ve been new because she couldn’t even tell me what plan I was on. So here are my questions:
My payment tracker/counter hasn’t been updated in I think a year? It has been stuck on 76 forever. She said I need to fill out a reconsideration form? But I asked for confirmation that the payments I’ve been making have been counting towards PSLF have been counting and she said yes. So I told her I was confused, is this just a tracker problem then? She said she didn’t know….
I also took a new, lower paying job at my university in July. I am hoping that with a lower salary, my payment will decrease. She couldn’t answer this either.
I guess I’m looking for reassurance that the tracker is incorrect and there is no reason the last few months of payments (since I switched from SAVE to IBR in February 2026) would not count. Also do I need to do a reconsideration or do I just go with that the tracker is not correct?

Maybe too specific of a question, but after you recertify your income and the payments go up due to increased income, is the new payment amount reflected immediately? or in the next months payment?-servicer is MOHELA

I have three current sources of frustration for my student loans and PSLF process.

I have been working at non-profits since June 2016. In all but seven months (forbearances) I have made qualifying payments and in theory I should be able to apply for forgiveness after my January 2027 payment is completed. I want to apply for a forbearance buyout, even if it is unlikely to get processed before January, in the unlikely event I lose job, but delays in the system have stopped me from doing so.

(1) There is a random single month payment missing from my payment history in studentaid.gov for June 2025. I only noticed this back in June. I can see on my loan servicer's (MOHELA) website that there is a record of me having made this payment. I called MOHELA to ask if they correct the issue. They said that the issue is on the department of education side. I called the studentaid.gov help line and they asked if I had spoken with my servicer and then told me to submit a PSLF reconsideration request, which I did. This has been pending with no updates since July 29.

(2) I last completed my employer certification back in July 2025. I have not changed employers, but all payments since then are marked as employment not certified. I submitted a re-certification in early August but have not yet heard back.

When submitting re-certification, I ran into a small issue in the system and had to speak with the customer service chat function. At this time, I asked if I should wait to submit my forbearance buyout application until after my employer was re-certified, and I was told to wait to submit the application.

(3) Looking at my payment tracker on studentaid.gov now, I don't see any record for my payments in July or August. Normally, the tracker is a single payment behind, but it's now two payments. The missing payment record from June 2025 is making me feel paranoid.

I feel very frustrated by all of these delays. And it makes me wonder how I should navigate the (hopefully) final months of my loans:

• Should I continue to wait for employer re-certification before submitting a request for the forbearance buyout?
• Should I try to re-escalate the issue with the missing payment? If not, I've heard these requests can take months to resolve and I'm worried that this will push my timeline for applying for forgiveness back an extra month.
• Assuming that the missing payment issue is resolved and that my buyout application isn't processed before I've completed my remaining payments in January, will I need to first wait up to a month or more for my January payment to show up in my studentaid.gov payment history, and then re-certify my employer (up to a month or more it seems), before I can apply for forgiveness? In other words, will I need to wait until March or even later to apply?