Step 1: Make sure the Department of Education has your most up-to-date contact information.

To do this, borrowers should register with the Office of Federal Student Aid by creating an FSA ID. To create an account, click here. If you already have an FSA ID, make sure your contact information is up to date.

Step 2: Check to see what kind of federal student loans you have.

This is where starting the PSLF Help Tool is best because this is the most challenging.  To figure it out, log in to your account at StudentAid.gov, go to the My Aid page, and go to the Loan Breakdown section, which provides a list of your federal student loans. Loans that start with the word “Direct” are Direct Loans. If all of your loans are Direct Loans — including because you previously consolidated other types of loans into the Direct Loan program — you can skip down to Step 4. During the period of the waiver, borrowers who made payments on other types of federal student loans can have those payments count towards the 120 needed for relief.

Step 3 Consolidate FFEL or Perkins Loans into the Direct Loan program before October 31, 2022

You need to fill out the consolidation application in one session and it should take about 30 minutes. When you consolidate your loans you will be able to choose what type of repayment plan you will use to pay down the debt. To ensure your payments on the new Direct Loan count towards Public Service Loan Forgiveness going forward, you should select an income-driven repayment plan. 

Step 4: Submit a PSLF form (after you have completed Step 3 and have received a final answer)

You have to submit an employment certification form and can do this even if you have left Penn. Here is the form: https://studentaid.gov/sites/default/files/public-service-application-for-forgiveness.pdf

It takes 2 minutes to fill out the PDF. You need to fill out the PSLF form by Oct. 31, 2022.