--- title: Over 600,000 Student Loan Borrowers Have Had Their Debt Forgiven Thanks to This Program description: Since October 2021, $42 billion in student loans have been approved for discharge under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. authors: - name: Sarah Hansen role: Senior Writer url: https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/ bio: Sarah Hansen is a senior writer at Money covering all things personal finance. Previously, she covered economic policy and capital markets on the breaking news desk at Forbes. education: Northwestern University, New York University at_money_since: 2021 articles: 347 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-m-hansen/ former_staff: true editors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2023-05-09T19:23:13.000Z' modified: '2024-02-18T13:32:48.000Z' section: Personal Finance tags: - News - Student Loans word_count: 466 canonical: https://money.com/student-loan-debt-forgiven-pslf/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Nurse walking a young patient by the hand in a hospital hallway](https://img.money.com/2023/05/News-Loan-Forgiveness-Public-Service-Workers.jpg) As Americans wait for the Supreme Court to rule on the legality of President Joe Biden's [student debt forgiveness program](https://money.com/student-loan-forgiveness-payment-pause-timeline/), thousands of borrowers are taking advantage of a different initiative to get their loans discharged. Since October 2021, more than 615,000 borrowers have had a cumulative $42 billion in loans approved for forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, according to an [announcement](https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-announces-42-billion-approved-public-service-loan-forgiveness-more-615000-borrowers-october-2021?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=) this week from the U.S. Department of Education. Nearly 610,000 of those borrowers have already had their loans completely discharged. The Education Department attributes those numbers to the temporary changes the federal government recently made to the PSLF program, which expanded eligibility and made it easier for eligible borrowers to have their loans forgiven. Before those changes, PSLF was notorious for its [low rate of approval](https://money.com/public-service-loan-forgiveness-delays-ffel-loans/) for applications and confusing requirements. Launched in 2007, PSLF is a government program that is designed to reduce or eliminate the burden of student loans for borrowers employed by government agencies (like firefighters and teachers) and qualifying non-profit organizations. To have their balances forgiven under PSLF, borrowers must have federal Direct Loans, enroll in an income repayment plan and make 120 monthly payments towards their loans. ## What changes did Biden make to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program? In the fall of 2021, the Biden administration implemented what it called the “limited PSLF waiver” that expanded the definition of a payment under the program. Under the temporary rules, loan payments that were previously considered ineligible, either because the borrower held the wrong loan type or was in the wrong type of payment plan, would count toward forgiveness. This helped drastically increase the number of borrowers who were approved, climbing from about 7,000 at the beginning of 2021 to more than 615,000 today. The waiver [expired](https://money.com/public-service-loan-forgiveness-pslf-waiver-deadline/) in October 2022, but the Biden administration has indicated it plans to enact permanent changes to the PSLF in July. Many — though not all — of the benefits of the limited waiver will be included in those changes, along with a few [new ones](https://money.com/income-driven-repayment-pslf-changes/). Also expected this summer is a ruling on Biden's one-time [loan forgiveness proposal](https://money.com/student-loan-forgiveness-timeline-lawsuits/), which would cancel some or all student debt for more than 40 million borrowers. Later this year, federal student loan payment requirements will [resume](https://money.com/student-loan-changes-important-dates-deadlines/), thought the exact date is not yet clear. The Education Department has said it will set the new deadline for either 60 days after June 30 or 60 days after student loan forgiveness litigation is resolved, whichever comes first. [Expanded Student Loan Forgiveness for Public Service Workers Is Expiring in October](https://money.com/public-service-loan-forgiveness-pslf-waiver-deadline/) [Biden Rolled out New Flexibility for Student Loan Payments This Week. Here's What to Know](https://money.com/income-driven-repayment-pslf-changes/) [It Just Got a Lot Easier to Qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness](https://money.com/public-service-loan-forgiveness-changes-waiver/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/student-loan-debt-forgiven-pslf/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Personal Finance", "item": "https://money.com/personal-finance/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Student Loan Debt", "item": "https://money.com/student-loan-debt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Over 600,000 Student Loan Borrowers Have Had Their Debt Forgiven Thanks to This Program" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/student-loan-debt-forgiven-pslf/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/student-loan-debt-forgiven-pslf/", "name": "Over 600,000 Student Loan Borrowers Have Had Their Debt Forgiven Thanks to This Program", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-05-09T19:23:13.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/student-loan-debt-forgiven-pslf/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/student-loan-debt-forgiven-pslf/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-02-18T13:32:48.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Over 600,000 Student Loan Borrowers Have Had Their Debt Forgiven Thanks to This Program", "articleSection": "Personal Finance", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/05/News-Loan-Forgiveness-Public-Service-Workers.jpg", "width": 4723, "height": 3149, "caption": "News-Loan-Forgiveness-Public-Service-Workers" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sarah Hansen", "url": "https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/sarah-hansen/#author", "description": "Sarah Hansen is a senior writer at Money covering all things personal finance. Previously, she covered economic policy and capital markets on the breaking news desk at Forbes.", "image": "https://img.money.com/2021/10/a_sarah-hansen.jpg?quality=85&w=400&h=440&crop=1", "email": "sarah.hansen@money.com", "alumniOf": "Northwestern University, New York University", "sameAs": [ "https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-m-hansen/" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2023-05-09T19:23:13.000Z", "description": "Since October 2021, $42 billion in student loans have been approved for discharge under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.", "abstract": "Since October 2021, $42 billion in student loans have been approved for discharge under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.", "@id": "https://money.com/student-loan-debt-forgiven-pslf/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-02-18T13:32:48.000Z", "editor": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Julia Glum", "url": "https://money.com/author/julia-glum/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/julia-glum/#author", "description": "Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. ", "image": "https://img.money.com/2021/10/a_julia-glum.jpg?quality=85&w=400&h=440&crop=1", "email": "julia.glum@money.com", "jobTitle": "Managing Editor", "alumniOf": "University of Florida", "subjectOf": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.newsweek.com", "name": "Newsweek" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.ibtimes.com/", "name": "International Business Times" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/home-office-tax-deduction-who-qualifies/", "name": "CBS News" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/living/story/coupon-queen-woman-tik-tok-share-tips-couponing-66302189", "name": "Good Morning America" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.wusa9.com/video/entertainment/television/programs/great-day-washington/tips-to-being-better-with-money-in-2021/65-a5b83e05-73ba-4d60-b9a8-1d47f9ac6018", "name": "WUSA9" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://pix11.com/news/coronavirus/rebound/making-ends-meet/millenials-taking-biggest-financial-hit-from-pandemic/", "name": "Pix 11" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/10/opinion/active-shooter-drill-schools.html", "name": "The New York Times" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://mashable.com/article/forrest-fenn-treasure-found", "name": "Mashable" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/08/13/theres-an-app-for-that-authorities-say-man-asked-siri-for-help-dumping-body/", "name": "The Washington Post" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/08/treasure-buried-by-forrest-fenn-finally-found-after-10-years.html", "name": "CNBC" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.politico.com/tipsheets/florida-playbook/2017/03/gillum-for-governors-rollout-stumble-florida-woman-gets-trump-shout-out-rubios-tampa-office-problems-218973", "name": "Politico" } ], "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/superjulia", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "wordCount": 466, "keywords": [ "News", "Student Loans" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Personal finance", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_finance" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Student debt", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_debt" ] } ] } ] } ```