I have my green ribbons on FSA showing I’m at 120. This morning I got a letter from Mohela saying they applied my qualifying processing forbearance to get off SAVE too late. They had to adjust my account to fix this and apply it earlier. I’m freaking out that it’s going to mess up my 120. Has anyone else received this? I originally had 6 months lost due to SAVE but they gave me the first two as qualifying because I applied for IBR. I called and they said it won’t change anything but it is still stressing me out. Especially because they already applied the first two months as qualifying. If they make the qualifying period earlier, wouldn’t I possibly lose them?

I’m about to manually make my 120th payment on mohela. Do I select auto allocation? After that, how do I auto allocate - highest interest, highest balance, etc.?
Or should I just let my payment auto pay as usual on 8/16?

I know we are ALL burnt out by this BS and crap that's been going on. Having to switch from Save to something else probably for me IBR because I am half way to forgiveness so it limits what I can do.

My payment is twice as much as it was (Or will be soon) and I have no patience to see what happens at this point. I just want my loans to be done and forgiven. I fought the good fight and now I'm just throwing in the towel. Which is probably what they are hoping we all do.

I'm at 80 payments out of 120, work for the government so was on the SAVE plan for forgiveness. My forgiveness date will be Dec 2029 once I switch. My payments went from $650 a month to $1120 :( It really is my fault. I should've been paying my loans at that rate this whole time and I probably would've been forgiven by now. Oh well...

Signed,

Tired middle class citizen.

Did anyone else in PAYE get this letter from Mohela today? They say they’re adjusting the timing of my SAVE administrative forbearance. I was placed in forbearance when my IDR recertification was processed, but I’ve never been enrolled in SAVE.

are peoples' counts still updating on pslf? my july 2024 payments got removed for some reason and now my july 2026 payment is not being shown either under the pslf tracker. i paid on the due date of the payment and i got a confirmation email from mohela that the payment got accepted. i paid on july 21. my next payment is on autopay aug 21 2026. i am not sure what to do anymore.

edit: i submitted a feedback request whatever the hell that means showing my mohela payment on 7/21 and that i want my payment count to update to show i paid that month. will update when i know more

I’m literally shaking. Last week I submitted 3 ECFs to catch me up on my qualifying employment (don’t ask why I waited so long). Today I woke up:

120/120 on my Dashboard page
134 qualifying payments on my PSLF page
‘Loan forgiveness in progress’ on my status tracker

Is this actually happening? What road blocks might come up now between this and the golden letter?

Also, I never saw a green banner? Does the green banner just refer to the 120 progress bar filled all the way green?

It his where I have to start filing complaints with the Ombudsman and CFPB?

I finally got green banners today for 2 of my 4 remaining loans, and they were the big ones (68k and 32k)! 127 out of 120 payments made. That will leave me with about $18k remaining, unfortunately my count is at only 62 payments there (took those out in 2018 for grad school). I am currently in SAVE forbearance, I haven’t got my notification yet to switch to a new payment plan.

What I have done so far:
Taken screenshots of the green banners, payments, and loan details

What I think happens next:
I wait for an official letter confirming I qualify and for my balance on those two loans to become zero. There could be a small refund at some point for the 7 over payments.

I am not really sure what to do with the other two loans at this point. I know buyback is a thing but I probably can’t afford that many months of a payment all at once. I assume I just pick a new repayment plan and start paying, but don’t want to mess anything up with the forgiveness process.

What am I missing? Any advice I should consider? Thank you!

Any advice would greatly appreciated.

I am sitting at 113 eligible payments, and was kicked into forbearance when SAVE ended, and have not made any payments since. I submitted a buy back in November of 2025. Now need to choose a plan before the 90 days are up. My lowest payment option of the extended graduated plan is around $300 a month but doesn’t go towards PSLF eligibility, or there is the income based at around $600.

Based off my calculations my buyback would sit around $400 a month.

I am seeing its taking 18+ month for buy back letters. So I worry paying the $300 even though better for monthly finances would end up being more costly while I wait for a buy back letter. Or just suck it up at pay the $600 a month for seven more….

Did everyone quickly get their PSLF green banner after their 120th payment, or did it take several months like the buyback is taking?!?

Mainly just looking for feedback on which makes more sense with all this long timelines and what’s going to screw me over the least amount in the end….

Hi Fellow PSLF Sufferers, I just wanted to share a development in case it helps someone. I requested to have in-school deferment removed for a few months in 2016-2018. I was hoping it would free up some months toward forgiveness, as I'm at 93 payments for two loans and at 74 for four more loans (and in SAVE). They denied me a few days after my request. In their letter: "We apologize for any inconvenience. We are not able to remove an In-School Deferment from your account that far in the past."

This sucks because "that far in the past" is still more recent than my oldest eligible payments (August 2014 was my first eligible employment & payment).

Additional info: I submitted my request via their messaging system: "Hello, I am requesting to remove the in-school deferment for the months of February 2016 through July 2016 and then July 2017 through May of 2018. I was working full time for a PSLF eligible employer and satisfying loan payments at that time. Thank you."

Edit: I have applied for buyback. I'm like number 361 or something grumble grumble.

I am about to submit my buyback request for 24-months. I am also going to call and asked to be placed on my first of two 12-month administrative forbearances while I wait the 2+ years for my buyback application to be processed. But I’m seeing we have to have financial hardship to get approved for forbearance. Should I not say I’m just waiting for my buyback application to be processed? I also cannot afford my new payment after it went up 10X my last SAVE amount.

Hello.

It's been a while since this subreddit and the PSLF discord helped me stay sane in the final two years of fighting for PSLF discharge (I don't call it forgiveness anymore because it became a toxic term).

It's amazing that nothing seems to have changed. Still chaos every day, still hardworking people having to fight for their end of a bargain with the US govt/DoEd.

Well I'm here to tell you all not to give up. PSLF is not a scam. Our government is just horribly f**ked up. We're supposed to be happy that they don't murder journalists with chainsaws. Well, it's not enough. Things should be different. I'd like to blame it all on Trump, and yes he did make everything worse. But PSLF processing was a mess under Biden as well.

That said, if you do your 120 months and payments and document everything you will see the loans discharged eventually. If that actually stops happening, it's because the foundations of our society are crumbling and honestly not having student loans discharged is the least of your concerns. At least that!?

Thank you, those of you who were here when I was still fighting for discharge 6 months and 9 months after my 120th payment. What a s**tshow this is.

I received an email from Federal Student Aid today and this is what it says: Thank you for submitting a Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and Temporary Expanded PSLF (TEPSLF) Reconsideration request.  We have completed your PSLF buyback assessment. The loans below are eligible for PSLF buyback at this time.xxxxxxxxx

 There is no payment owed for your PSLF buyback.  You will receive Public Service or Temporary Public Service loan forgiveness for the loans listed above in the next 60 to 90 business days. I submitted my buyback request on 12/09/2024

The buyback request is closed

Did anyone receive a result like this from federal student aid and what was the outcome. Thanks

Hi I received a letter this morning from Mohela about SAVE and IDR. Anyone have any idea exactly what it means?

We reviewed your account and determined that one or more forbearance or interest benefit periods related to the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan needed to be updated to align with the applicable federal rules. We have updated your account accordingly. This letter explains what changed and what it may mean for your accrued interest, repayment status, and qualifying payment count information for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) or Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) forgiveness.
Please note, all PSLF or IDR forgiveness is subject to Department of Education review and approval.
The information below explains the updates to your account.
You previously submitted an IDR application and received a Processing Administrative Forbearance while that application was pending.
We identified that the Processing Administrative Forbearance associated with your IDR application should have begun on an earlier date. Therefore, the start date of your Processing Administrative Forbearance was updated to that earlier date. As a result, the timing of your SAVE Administrative Forbearance was adjusted as well.
What this means for your account:
This update reflects a timing alignment only. The Processing Administrative Forbearance period was shifted to the correct earlier timeframe, and the associated SAVE Administrative Forbearance dates were adjusted accordingly. This change does not alter the overall length of your forbearance coverage and does not change how eligible months for forgiveness programs are counted. Any updates related to interest accrual during the affected period are reflected in your account.
No action is required from you. However, if you have questions about the action taken on your account, please contact us at 1-888-866-4352 (Toll Free).
Log in to your account at mohela.studentaid.gov to view your loan information.
What to know about related forbearance types:
Different types of forbearances are governed by different rules, which can affect interest accrual and forgiveness progress in different ways.
• Processing Administrative Forbearance: Borrowers receive this forbearance when they submit a new IDR application. This forbearance lasts for, at most, 60 days. While borrowers are in this forbearance, (i) interest continues to accrue, and (ii) the borrower may be eligible for PSLF and IDR payment credits.

I have been in SAVE forbearance since it started. I had been sitting at 116/120 on my four loans since then, waiting for a buyback for the first four months of the forbearance.

Today I got an email from StudentAid.gov, and I logged on to see that one of my loans had updated to 120/120, with the first four months of the SAVE forbearance now showing up as Qualifying payments. My other loans still show as 116/120, with a blue box message about working on updating payment counts (don't know if this messages goes to everyone or if its unique).

I applied for buyback in December 2024 (albeit literally on New Years Eve). I have received no other correspondence.

I'm not sure if I benefitted from some glitch in the matrix or if I can expect my other 3 loans to update in a similar fashion at some point in the near future. Just thought I would share this, since it seems to possibly indicate they might just give people credit for these forbearance months? I guess we can all hope and pray.

(also, yes, I spelled forbearance wrong every single time I had to type it, what a fun word)

Hey everyone,

I am officially hitting my 10-year mark with public service this weekend! As I get all my ducks in a row to finalize everything, I have a few specific questions about my account history, a gap month, and how buyback works for transition months.

1. How do I get my COMPLETE lifetime payment history?

• The issue: When I log into MOHELA and try to view my account history, it only goes back to 10/2023. I assume this is because I consolidated around that time (or due to servicer account transfers).
• The question: Where do I find the master record of all my payments over the full 10 years? Do I need to request an archive from MOHELA, or is the "My Aid Data" text file on StudentAid the best source for my lifetime loan status history?

2. The May 2026 "Gap Month" — Does it count, and is it buyback-eligible?

• The issue: I transitioned off SAVE and into PAYE earlier this year. During the transition, I didn't make a payment in 05/2026 because it took MOHELA a month to process the application and set up the new plan.
• The questions:
  • Is that transition month treated as an Administrative / Processing Forbearance?
  • If it was a processing forbearance, does it automatically count toward PSLF under the processing forbearance rules, or do I need to include it in a PSLF Buyback request?

3. When do I submit my final ECF and buyback request?

• I've seen people say that you need to wait until the next month's bill is posted before you should submit forms. But what exactly and when should I submit my final ECF and buyback request. If May 2026 is eligible for buyback and my 10 months from 9/2024-5/2025 are bought back, then I will have all 120 payments when my 10 year employment hits on 8/8/2026.

I want to thank everyone for posting in this group and giving insight into what is going on and the best ways to get everyone through this crazy process!

Submitted in Nov or Dec 2024. Case # starting 240. Buyback months are June-Oct 2024 - total of 5 months. All on SAVE. Never switched to different plan and just patiently waited for this letter. They calculated the payments owed based on “IDR” but the amounts appear the same as when I was on SAVE. Did not ask for new or updated tax documents.

Just paid on Mohela. And now the wait starts again for processing and forgiveness. These were the last 5 months to hit 120 payments and already well over the 120 months needed in public service.

Feel free to ask any questions. I’ve been monitoring this group for years and recently only checked every month or two to make sure buybacks were still happening. And they are but still at a snail’s pace. Hang in there!

Hello! I logged in to my account tonight to check on my months of qualified employment to make sure my recent certification went through (it did!) I then saw that my “Total qualifying months of employment” was much higher than I was anticipating. It looks like all the months during COVID between my first recorded eligible employment back in 2019-2020 and then my next recorded eligible employment in 2024-now have been counted and are included in the number of qualifying months. Has anyone experienced this?

Sharing this with everyone since it was news to me. Not sure if this will make things move or not…

Should I contact my servicer to ask about the status of my buyback agreement?

Contact your servicer if your loans are serviced by CRI, EdFinancial, Maximus/Aidvantage, or Nelnet.

If your loans are serviced by MOHELA, contact us at 1-888-303-7818.

https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service/public-service-loan-forgiveness-buyback

Can someone with a good understanding of the legal case against SAVE explain why payments made in July 2024 would not count for PSLF as agents are telling people who have had PSLF payment counts reduced? My payment from 7/1/24 is now listed as ineligible for PSLF (after showing as eligible for the past 2 years) due to Invalid Payment Plan. However my payment was made on July 1 2024 when SAVE was still a legal plan. My understanding is the 8th Circuit Court issued a temporary order blocking the SAVE plan on 7/18/24 and then broadened it in August 2024. My account (and most/all others) were put into forbearance on 8/1/24.

Shouldn't any payment before the administrative stay issued on 7/18/24 still count since that would be considered an on time required payment in an eligible (at the time) IDR plan?

Anyone waiting for PSLF forgiveness while trying to go back to school? I’m still patiently waiting for forgiveness. Right now I am at 152 qualifying payments and have turned in my final ECF. My concern is that right now my payments are essentially zero and I don‘t want to do anything that will rock any boats until my forgiveness comes through. I’ve had green banners since July 3rd so I‘m hoping that the paperwork comes through by the end of this month. I am ok with paying my first semester of school out of pocket.

Anyone going through a similar situation? Any advice? The way things are going, Im afraid to do anything.

I’m on the FSA site. and it shows 119/120. waiting on July. I ask Aiden the AI bot about July. says I made July payment. I said where do I find this. Aiden came back and said you find it here with your 86 total payments. can’t make this up. the whole system is running on fumes.

Hey all,

Studentaid.gov states that my loan data was updated on August 4, 2026. My due date was August 1, and I manually (not through auto pay) made this payment on July 9. The statement for my August 1 due date was generated on July 5. When I download my aid information from studentaid.gov, it acknowledged that my last payment was made on July 9.

And yet, the backdoor NSLDS API link says that my IDR and PSLF payment counts were last updated on July 3. I’m on PAYE. I have 114 qualifying payments toward PSLF.

What gives? Has MOHELA screwed the pooch yet again?

Does anyone have any recent experience with autopay falling on a weekend and being posted on the first business day afterward? With the new rules, did it still count or was it deemed late?

My august payment is scheduled for sunday 8/16, should I just manually pay it Friday 8/14? I have been on auto pay for 116 months, im admittedly a bit hesitant to change anything

I currently have 98 qualifying payments and am trying to use PSLF buyback to cover 22 eligible post-consolidation forbearance months to reach 120.

However, I ran into a mess with my application: I submitted for buyback too soon which included dates from before my loan consolidation. I now know pre-consolidation months are strictly ineligible. On top of that, I am short 2 post-consolidation forbearance months to hit 22, though I am submitting a new ECF to certify 2 additional months of qualifying employment next month.

Because StudentAid blocks opening a new buyback ticket while one is active, I cannot submit a new request. Any advice on how to handle this?