Public Service Loan Forgiveness for Dentists

There has been a lot of talk about Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) lately because of an article published by NPR which can be found here: https://www.npr.org/2018/10/17/653853227/the-student-loan-whistleblower?fbclid=IwAR1KygbBZCNeNEQE0geVUIk767XzJeIP3BQW0yNtKKt_LXpZTE_XFRUOgYM

A few things:

We won’t really get a good feel for how this program shakes out for at least 3-4 more years.

This would have been the first wave of applications. Many had to submit 2x, so they filled out the application incorrectly.

Only direct loans or loans consolidated into direct loans qualify for PSLF.

You must be employed by a 501(c)3 and not contracted with one – this will be a hangup for many dentist and doctors.

You must have made 120 on time payments in one of the IDR plans or 10 year standard repayment (loan would be paid off) while employed by a 501(c)3 AND you must be employed by a 501(c)3 when you apply and receive forgiveness – DONT quit after your 120 payments and then apply.

Do not prepay your loans, prepayments don’t count. So if you are in say the NHSC LRP program and you get 50k up front for a 2 year commitment and use that to “prepay” your loans for 2 years (you have a credit with the loan servicer who deducted the monthly payment from your 50k deposit instead of sending you the bill), these payments don’t count towards the 120 payments.

WCI Podcast on PSLF

The NPR Podcast on PSLF can be found below.