More time to apply for Public Service Loan Forgiveness waiver after recent announcement

Update, Oct. 19, 2022: Please note that PSLF is separate from and in addition to the one-time debt cancellation of up to $20,000 available through President Biden’s recently announced executive action. You are strongly encouraged to complete both the PSLF tool and the cancellation application as soon as possible to ensure you receive full debt relief.

In response to requests by UC and other colleges and universities, the US Department of Education recently clarified that they will accept applications submitted after the Oct. 31, 2022, waiver deadline if you generate your PSLF application through the online PSLF Help Tool and submit your request for employment verification by that date. You can still get the benefit of the waiver even if UC has not yet certified your employment status at that time.

If you have federal student loans, we urge you to generate an application through the PSLF Help Tool before 11:59 p.m. EST on Oct. 31, 2022, and submit it to UCPath for employment verification. More than 4,500 UC employees have already applied. 

Applications will only be accepted after October 31 if they were generated using the PSLF Tool. If you need to consolidate your loans, the Department has clarified that consolidation requests need to be submitted online through StudentAid.gov by the October 31 deadline in order to count under the waiver.

For instructions on using the PSLF tool and information about next steps, please visit the UC Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) page.

You may also be eligible for one-time debt cancellation up to at least $10,000 when the Department of Education launches its income verification form for President Biden’s recently announced executive action. We strongly encourage you to complete both the PSLF tool and the executive action income verification form to ensure you receive full debt relief.

The #UCStudentDebtChallenge — a joint initiative by UC faculty experts on student debt, the Academic Senate and UC Human Resources — is part of a larger effort to raise awareness among the nine million public servants who could become debt free through PSLF. You are invited to watch a recording of the #UCStudentDebtChallenge Virtual Town Hall, held on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022.

With more than 200,000 employees, UC is one of the nation’s largest qualified public service employers. Even if you do not have federal loans, you can help by educating your colleagues. By helping our co-workers cancel their student debt, we can make UC an even better and more equitable place to work. 

Thank you for joining with us to help all UC employees become student debt free.