PSLF Started on Oct. 1, 2007 — Here’s What’s Happened Since

By Stanley Tate · Reviewed by Stanley Tate

Updated May 6, 2026 · 5 min read

BackgroundPSLF Since 2007Bottom Line

In 2007, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program was established under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act to encourage careers in public service. The program, signed into law by President George W. Bush, allows for loan forgiveness after 10 years of payments and meeting other criteria for individuals employed in public service. The official PSLF start date is October 1, 2007. All monthly payments made by full-time public servants under a qualifying repayment plan after that date count as qualifying payments for PSLF — assuming you had Direct Loans.

The U.S. Department of Education promised to write off your remaining loan balance tax-free — as long as you met all of those requirements. But if any were missed, you’d be stuck paying your student loan debt for several more years.

How PSLF got started

When President Bush took office, he promised to limit government spending on the federal student loan program by slashing the subsidies private lenders got as part of the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program. Meanwhile, Democrats took control of Congress in 2007 and almost immediately went to work on fulfilling their campaign promise to slash the cost of higher education. The result? The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007.

The government did three things as part of that bill:

Increased Pell Grant awards for undergraduate borrowers
Created the income-based repayment plan
Promised loan forgiveness for teachers, firefighters, nonprofit workers, and other public servants after a decade of full-time work

The Act had broad bipartisan support. It passed 79 to 12 in the Senate and 292 to 97 in the House. President Bush signed the bill on Sep. 27, 2007, and the PSLF Program officially started the next month, on Oct. 1, 2007.

Here’s the crazy part: Even though PSLF would become the biggest part of the Act, the president didn’t mention PSLF or its benefits in his press release. Instead, he focused on the increased Pell Grant awards, deferment options for active duty military service members, and his desire to have the No Child Left Behind Act renewed.

What’s happened to PSLF since 2007

PSLF was flawed from the beginning. It wasn’t simple. Federal student loan borrowers wrongfully assumed they automatically qualified for PSLF because they held public service jobs.

But that wasn’t the case. They had to meet five requirements:

Have loans made under the Direct Loan Program
Work full-time — i.e., at least 30 hours per week
Make payments under a qualifying repayment plan — i.e., the Standard Repayment Plan or one of the income-driven repayment plans
Make 120 qualifying payments — i.e., payments made on time and for the full amount due
Keep working for an eligible employer until the PSLF Form is processed and the remaining balance is forgiven

Thousands of borrowers dutifully made payments for years, believing they were working towards PSLF, only to reach the 10-year mark and have their application denied.

Many blamed the Education Department for not informing them of the program’s strict requirements. Others blamed the department’s private contractors for failing to tell them they wouldn’t qualify because they had the wrong types of loans or were enrolled in the wrong repayment plan. A handful complained they were steered into forbearances instead of payment plans that qualified for PSLF relief.

Fewer than 1 percent of applicants got their loans discharged through the program.

To its credit, the government has tried to right its wrongs. Unfortunately, it took several years, a global pandemic, and a new administration to make good on the promise made to borrowers way back when.

2018 – Temporary Expanded PSLF

The problem with TEPSLF reconsideration was two-fold. First, it only helped people who made their payments under the wrong repayment plan. It did nothing for those who spent years working for a qualifying employer but paid towards FFEL and Federal Perkins Loans.

Second, people were eligible for relief only if their most recent loan payment and the ones they made 12 months before they applied for TEPSLF were higher than what they would have paid if they had been enrolled in a qualifying repayment plan.

What?

Needless to say, Temporary Expanded PSLF only helped a few borrowers. Another solution was needed.

*Republicans also tried to kill PSLF , arguing the costs were more than the government anticipated. But their efforts failed.

2021 – The Limited Waiver

Under the Limited PSLF Waiver, borrowers who worked full-time for the government or a nonprofit organization after Oct. 1, 2007, can get credit towards PSLF for a broader range of payments — including payments made towards FFEL Loans.

The PSLF changes have led to over 175 thousand borrowers getting more than $10 billion in debt relief.

Unlike the original PSLF Program rules, the qualifications for the waiver are simpler:

Work full-time for a qualifying employer anytime after Oct. 1, 2007
Consolidate ineligible loan types — i.e., FFEL, HEAL, and Perkins Loans — into a Direct Consolidation Loan
Submit a PSLF Employment Certification Form for every qualifying employer you’ve worked for after the program’s start date

Do those things by Oct. 31, 2022, and you’ll qualify for the waiver. Miss that date and the opportunity may be lost forever.

*Regrettably, parents who borrowed PLUS Loans for their children can’t get those loans forgiven under the waiver. But there are still other Parent PLUS Loan forgiveness opportunities .

2022 – The IDR Waiver

Borrowers had accused student loan servicers of giving inaccurate advice about their available loan repayment options. Many claimed that thousands of dollars of interest was added to their loan balances, and they missed out on getting credit towards loan forgiveness because they were steered into forbearance instead of an income-driven repayment plan.

On Apr. 19, the Education Department announced it would review its records and increase borrowers’ payment counts towards income-driven repayment plan forgiveness and PSLF.

Related: PSLF Forbearance Steering

The department estimates the one-time account adjustment will result in:

Immediate debt cancellation for at least 40 thousand borrowers under the PSLF program,
thousands of borrowers with older loans automatically qualify for income-driven repayment plan forgiveness, which wipes out the remaining balance after 20+ years of payments, and
over 3.6 million borrowers inching at least three years closer to IDR forgiveness.

Along with the added retroactive PSLF credit for time spent in long-term forbearances and some deferments, the Education Department established a PSLF reconsideration system to allow borrowers to get a second look at their PSLF eligibility.

If the Education Department owns your loans, you don’t need to apply for the IDR Waiver. But if you have commercially-held FFEL Loans, you’ll need to consolidate into a Direct Consolidation Loan to receive the one-time account adjustment.

Bottom Line

The PSLF Program was established under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007. Since then, the program has gone through several temporary changes.

If you’ve worked full-time for the government or nonprofit organization anytime after Oct. 1, 2007, now’s the time to apply for relief. The Limited PSLF Waiver ends Oct. 31, 2022. When it does, the chance to get credit for past payments may be gone forever.

Need more help figuring out your options? Schedule a call with me — I can help you make sense of it all.

UP NEXT: How to Apply for Student Loan Forgiveness

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