Next year, student loan borrowers are going to see an important grace period on their loan repayments end, but another one is just beginning that could save student borrowers billions, according to the Department of Education.

It could save some individuals tens of thousands, say financial advisors.

In February 2022, borrowers are once again going to have to start paying down their federal student loans after a 22-month pause that started with the Covid-19 crisis and the CARES Act in March 2020. During that period, borrowers have been able to stop payments without additional interest accruing. According to Fidelity, the renewed average monthly loan repayment is going to be $515 in February. It will be even higher for baby boomers, who hold twice as much debt, the company said.

But as of early October, there’s good news for those who are looking to jump onto the federal student loan forgiveness program.

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is designed for teachers, doctors, nurses and other people in public service and promises loan forgiveness as long as applicants meet certain criteria. It normally requires borrowers to pay back through the Direct Loan program. But under the new rules released on October 6, borrowers can get credit for the program for past payments on different types of loans that otherwise wouldn’t count toward the program.

While it sounds like a small technical detail, it’s actually a huge window of opportunity, says Jake Northrup, an advisor at Experience Your Wealth in Rhode Island. “It could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings,” he said.

The forgiveness program requires borrowers to make monthly repayments for 120 months (10 years), and to work full-time for a government or nonprofit organization (making it of special relevance to doctors and teachers). They also must be part of an income-driven repayment plan. But until now, again, the program has required the payments to be made under federal Direct Loans. That meant repayments made to other programs like Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans and Federal Perkins Loans did not count.

Fast-forward to today. Now those who have already been paying back FFEL loans can automatically apply to have all that money put toward loan forgiveness—as long as they consolidate those loans into Direct Loans by October 31, 2022. (PLUS loans, however, are not included in the relief program.)

“There’s been an issue with the Public Service Loan Forgiveness up to this point,” Northrup says. “The rules are so stringent, where you need the right type of loan, which are Direct; the right type of repayment plan, which is income-based; and you have to work at the right type of employer, which is a 501(c)(3) or government agency.” Many people applied and couldn’t get forgiveness, he says.

The Department of Education said as much in an October 6 fact sheet: “For reference, just over 16,000 borrowers have ever received forgiveness under PSLF prior to this action.” Forbes put it more bluntly last summer: Ninety-eight percent of program applicants get the door slammed in their face.

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