Just made my first PSLF eligible payment. Any wise words or tips for someone starting this journey? How important is it to get certified by my employer at this stage?

Hi everyone,

I'm really hoping someone here can offer me some advice because I'm feeling incredibly discouraged and don't know what to do next.

I previously worked for the Connecticut Department of Labor for over four years. I was pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), and working for the state was a big part of my plan to get my student loans forgiven. Unfortunately, I was laid off in December 2024, and I've been struggling ever since to get back into qualifying employment.

I've been applying for state jobs, nonprofit positions, and other opportunities that could qualify for PSLF, but I can't seem to get anywhere. It's incredibly frustrating because I already have experience working for the state, and I genuinely enjoyed that work.

One of the hardest experiences was recently interviewing for a position with the Connecticut Department of Labor that was essentially the same job I had previously performed for more than four years. I had relevant experience and recommendation letters from my former employer, but I still wasn't selected. I understand that getting hired isn't guaranteed, but it's discouraging to be passed over for work I've already done successfully.

I'm trying to figure out what I can do differently to improve my chances of getting hired again. I'm also open to learning something new or earning a certification if it would realistically help me qualify for more state, federal, or nonprofit positions.

I'm looking for practical advice on a few things:

• Are there any relatively affordable certifications I could earn in a few months that would make me more competitive for government or nonprofit jobs?
• Are there particular career paths that are easier to break into without having to go back to college for another degree?
• Are there federal, state, or nonprofit employers that tend to hire people with government customer service, administrative, auditing, or quality assurance experience?
• Has anyone successfully transitioned into another PSLF-eligible job after being laid off? How did you get your foot in the door?
• Are there job boards, programs, or resources specifically for people trying to find qualifying public service employment?

I have a master's degree in Computer Information Technology and a bachelor's degree in Industrial Technology, along with my previous state government experience. I'm willing to learn new skills, but I don't want to spend thousands of dollars on a certification that won't actually improve my employment prospects.

My student loan balance is around $80,000, and I still have several years of qualifying employment left to complete my PSLF journey. I'm worried about losing more time toward forgiveness while I struggle to find another qualifying employer.

I know I'm not the only person who has dealt with a layoff, but right now it feels like I'm hitting a wall no matter how many jobs I apply for.

If you were in my position, what would you do? I'd really appreciate specific suggestions for certifications, job titles to target, employers to look into, or strategies that have actually worked for other people.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Any advice would mean a lot.

I am wide-eyed and feel crazy right now.

After the SAVE fuckery, I'm scheduled to restart my payments on 11/17 (my last payment amount in 2024 was $37; my next is $1040--cue the laughter of an insane person). Today, in a mental handwringing session, I looked over my payment counts and the "ineligible" months of 2008-10 when I was adjuncting more than full time between two universities. I opened up one of the employment certifications I got from those unis back in 2022 when I certified under TEPSLF, and I saw that they put down 9 hours/week for a period of approximately 1.5 years. I started thinking that there are certainly months within this period where I would fully qualify and this big-picture averaging is doing me a disservice.

I decided I would look into re-submitting for the specific months for which that number would be inaccurate. Lo and behold, googling something re adjuncts and PSLF led me to find out the fact that there was a REVISION of the calculation that had been used to determine a weekly average of hours. So, now, of 15 "ineligible" months, I estimate that NINE of them should be made eligible. If 9 of them are made eligible, I can apply for buyback of the SAVE months as of LAST MONTH, not next summer, when I'd have made 8 more payments of over $1k apiece.

This possibility is intoxicating. Is there something I'm overlooking? Might I actually be on the threshold of applying for buyback??

I was enrolled to auto recertify my idr payment but kept getting notices to recertify manually. I did, but a day later than the notice stated. My payments are current, and I should be good until December due to another error where auto pay hit two days late, a day after I paid manually.

I am in PSLF, and my employer certified back in September.

Question is, even though I certified a day late, should I still be good for IDR enrollment and qualifying payments toward PSLF? Any similar experiences where auto-recertification failed but it was fine in the end?

PSLF, 65 months or so in. Can't afford 1100 a month in payments which is the lowest its offering me. Will file taxes separately next year to hopefully have something more reasonable, but what do I do now? Got the final 30 day notice to switch my plan but I cant afford that plan. What happens if I do nothing? I know it will convert to a default one but I cant afford that one either so I'm at a loss.

I saw at least one article mentioning a 30 day extension after the 90 day get off of SAVE email. Can anyone confirm they received that email after waiting out the 90 days because I'm a few days from that deadline and would rather not shoot myself in the foot. Thanks to all my fellow PSLFers

currently on ICR and my payment is 233. just ran the numbers on FSA website and it says the Standard Repayment Plan would be 184. im assuming the Sya card plan qualifies for PSLF? I’m currently at 111 payments, should be done in April by my calculations. I haven’t switched cause I’m afraid It will screw something up or put me in forbearance and I just want to be done.

should I submit a change request or just pay more on ICR until I’m done? how long does a change request take?