JB Pritzker, Governor, State of Illinois

Federal Student Loan Forgiveness

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Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
One-Time Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Account Adjustment

For questions on the PSLF program or the IDR Account adjustment, borrowers can contact isac.borrowersupport@illinois.gov.

* PLEASE NOTE: Do not send your PSLF application to this e-mail address, given the sensitive nature of the information on the application. Please note this e-mail address is only to help answer questions about the PSLF program and the process of applying. We are not designated to receive, certify, or process PSLF applications.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

The PSLF program forgives the remaining balance of a federal loan borrower's Direct Loans after they have made 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time for a qualifying employer.

Eligibility

To be eligible for PSLF, borrowers must meet the following criteria:

  1. Be employed full-time by a qualifying employer
  2. Have Direct Loans or Direct Consolidated Loans
  3. Make 120 qualifying monthly payments while working for a qualifying employer
  4. Be on an Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan

How to Apply

Borrowers can use the PSLF Help Tool to complete the PSLF application. The PSLF application consists of several pages, which include information about a borrower's loans, their demographic information, employment certification forms, and terminology for PSLF.

The PSLF Help Tool helps borrowers with:

  • understanding more about PSLF and Temporary Expanded PSLF (TEPSLF);
  • assessing whether they work for a qualifying employer; and
  • navigating the steps needed to receive loan forgiveness under PSLF or TEPSLF.

Upon completion of the application, borrowers must submit the application in one of four way ways:

  1. Digitally submit the form via the PSLF Help Tool with an electronic signature
  2. Secure Upload via MOHELA, if MOHELA is already the borrower's loan servicer
  3. Mail the application to U.S. Department of Education, MOHELA, 633 Spirit Drive, Chesterfield, MO 63005
  4. Fax the application to 866-222-7060

One-Time Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Account Adjustment

The one-time IDR account adjustment is a set of temporary changes that allows federal student loan borrowers to receive credit for certain previously ineligible payments while under an IDR plan and/or pursuing PSLF. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) will review every borrower account that has at least one Federal Direct Loan or one Federal Family Educational Loan (FFEL) held by ED.

If you have commercial held FFEL, Perkins, or Health Education Assistance Loan (HEAL) loans, you must apply for a Direct Consolidation Loan by April 30, 2024, to take advantage of the adjustment.

Eligibility

To be eligible, the borrower must:

  1. have a Federal Direct or FFEL loan held by ED;
  2. be on an IDR plan or were on one in the past;
  3. be in the PSLF program; or
  4. not be on an IDR plan but are interested and have Direct or FFEL loans held by ED.

Payment Account Adjustments

The payment account adjustment will count time toward IDR and PSLF forgiveness, including:

  • any months in a repayment status, regardless of the payments made, loan type, or repayment plan;
  • 12 or more months of consecutive forbearance or 36 or more months of cumulative forbearance;
  • any months spent in economic hardship or military deferments in 2013 or later;
  • any months spent in any deferment (except for in-school deferment) prior to 2013; and
  • any time in repayment (or deferment or forbearance, if applicable) on earlier loans before consolidation of those loans into a consolidation loan.