My experience with the new Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) application

Hello. My name is Josh. I live in Minneapolis. I have been a teacher for 9 years and worked in the public schools for 5 years.

Last year in June, I was sent a letter by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) that said new changes were set in place for the PSLF.

Like many people, I had tried to apply in 2017 and 2018, but my school district at the time rejected my application because I was only employed part-time.

With the AFT reminder and a deadline about a year in advance, I began to work with a non-profit assigned by the government to guide borrowers in the process of filling out the PSLF named Summer.

It is now August 2022. I still have not had my employment history certified, the very first step of the PSLF application. I have been held up because my former school district refused to certify the hours I worked as an educational assistant. Rather, they will only count my time as a teacher.

To sum it up quickly, Summer told me to check a box that said the district wouldn’t certify my hours. Then, the federal government would double-check that information…They did not. In fact, FedLoan Servicing (the company that receives the application) told me directly that I needed to send them my W2s from the years I worked there. To add on, all that information (which is still unprocessed), will be sent to MOHELA, the new servicing company for the federal government, in the next few weeks. If you want to see the whole story, I try to write it out for myself on this website:

https://wordpress.com/view/colorlessgreenteacherssleepfuriously.wordpress.com

It is a nightmare. It feels like no one is out there to help and I need to constantly call and check if anything is moving. The last person I talked to at Summer said I should be good as long as I have all my documentation in order by October, but honestly it is hard to believe a single person when there is such a history of abuse with these loan providers/servicers.

Anyway. It’s nice to meet everyone. And thanks for letting me vent.

Josh

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