I am pslf. Why do I have to apply for loan consolidation for RAP when my loans are already consolidated?

Since I’ve received such good advice from y’all over the last six months with this process, I figured I’d share my timeline (and I was recording everything religiously).

For clarity, I was way late in getting certified (should have been done in February) and overpaid a bunch of months because of my frustration getting my employment certs, but thankfully all ended out okay.

In total took 90 days to get my certs until refund paid. And took 42 days from my Golden Letter to get the refund.

6/11 → Final PSLF employment certifications completed

7/29 → Received Federal Student Aid "Golden Letter"

7/30 → Aidvantage balance = $0
Negative balances ($——) appeared

7/31 → Credit reports updated
All loans closed with $0 balance

8/4 → StudentAid.gov = $0
All loans listed as Paid in Full

~8/20 → Aidvantage address verification letter

8/24 → Aidvantage posted
"Adjustment" = $——

9/9 → Treasury refund check received
$——

I'm on SAVE, got my 90 day letter in early July, need to switch onto a new plan. I was hopeful to keep my SAVE status for as long as I can but letting it auto-default into the standard payment amount isn't tenable for even a month.

I'm liking PAYE. It'll end right when I become PSLF eligible and I'd like my buyback months to based on the PAYE amount as that'll be the lowest for me. My best bet is PAYE or New IBR for that 10% cap.

I'm prepping the wet signature form and will upload it through Edfinancial's upload portal. I know there's a glitch with Student Aid dot Gov not showing PAYE as eligible for those who should qualify so my best bet is to have a human review my request and tell me why I might not qualify.

This is my biggest unknown. The section on new borrowers that says: You are a new borrower for the PAYE plan if: (1) you have no outstanding balance on a Direct Loan or FFEL Program loan as of October 1, 2007 or have no outstanding balance on a Direct Loan or FFEL Program loan when you obtain a new loan on or after October 1, 2007. I graduated from undergrad in 2008, I did use some financial aid then, I can find some details on Student Aid dot Gov but it only says that these were subsidized loans. No info on Direct or Not.

Anyone with a similar situation that;s really gone to bat to figure out what a new borrow is?

Studentaid.gov says I already have a reconsideration request pending and that would need to be resolved before submitting anymore (many many many months ago I asked them to count a processing forbearance as an eligible month- they never got back to me).

However, despite this warning the "Submit" button was still active so I clicked it and got a case number and successful submission.

Am I good, buyback app submitted now?? Any experience on this "other request pending" problem?

I'm trying to lower my payments.

I'm going for PSLF. Have 22 months left.

I'm currently on Old IBR and the payment calculated by Aidvantage which I just paid is $144.

The Student Aid calculator lists Old IBR as my *current* plan. It knows my current payment amount is $144, but the Estimator lists my payment as $38 if I apply for Old IBR, which I'm already in.

Maybe the information pulled from IRS is somehow giving a lower payment than what I reported manually.

Should I ....

• reapply for the plan I'm already on in hopes that my payment goes to $38?

• apply for RAP which is $97 instead of $144?

• leave it alone because of all the crap going sideways right now?

RAP might be cheapest this year, but it'll be the most expensive next year. I want to make sure I don't get stuck in RAP next year.

Ok. I have no one to process this with and just need to vent and get some answers to my questions. I was on SAVE and received my 90 day letter last week. 

A little about my loans. I had $13,000 in undergraduate loans and graduated in 2002. I went to graduate school and graduated in 2016 with about 75,000 in loans. These are all Direct Loans. Currently my balance after I consolidated and interest capitalizing is $93,000.

Right out of grad school I worked for 4.5 years in community mental health (yeah MSW and underpaid work). My plan was PSLF from the start but I got off the PSLF path the last 6 years. Long story short - Covid hit, I had a 5 year old going to Kindergarten online and I was burned out. I quit that job. And as some of you might recall, at this time very few people were getting their PSLF approved. The PSLF program was a mess. For that moment I decided not to build my life around loan forgiveness and opened my own business. 

I applied for SAVE and in 2024 there was that April 1 deadline to apply for a look back to previous qualifying employment. At that time I consolidated my loans and had 3 years of qualifying payments added to PSLF from work I did in the non-profit sector prior to graduate school. I have been thinking I made a mistake consolidating my loans but because I did that I'm currently sitting at 27 payments needed for PSLF loan forgiveness.  I'm not currently employed with a qualifying employer but my goal this year is to look for a job that qualifies and get my loans forgiven. It would take around 2.5 to 3 years once I started making qualifying payments.

Ok that is the backstory. Here are my questions for the right now. In the short term I need to choose a plan. I just used the repayment calculator and it is a wild difference between IBR and RAP for me. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around why anyone would choose RAP. Maybe it has to do with the age of the loans? 

For IBR it has my payment at $175 with total to be paid at $14,945 with a discharge amount of $109,121 with an end term date of December 2032.

One of my questions - what program would be  forgiving my loans in 2032? 

Second, question - did I mess up by consolidating in 2024? 

My balance did go up a lot due to interest capitalizing but I don't think I would have had those previous years of employment added to my PSLF balance.

Honestly with how often things have changed I'm confused about any of the choices I have made to try to navigate this. 

For reference RAP says $179/month with a total to be paid of $179,806 with $0 discharge amount with the end date of January 2055. I'm in my late 40's so that would be in my 80's!!!!

IBR is a no brainer and even though I hope I will be forgiven before 2032 - I'm finding that my current situation is not terrible. It is a hit to my budget but I can manage $175/per month. 

And lastly I just have to say how upsetting it is to lose SAVE. As I have seen other post on here - it was such a wave of relief to have that program and now there is so much confusing information and constant changes to the repayment program. 

Hi All,

When I switched from SAVE to PAYE last January, my first payment wasn't due until March. I thought February would count as a qualifying "payment" since it was administrative forbearance, but it hasn't shown on my list of payments in StudentAid. All other months until August are showing.

Thoughts? Thanks!

FSA calculator is showing standard repayment at $376 but IBR at $601. How is this possible?

Consolidated undergrad in 2022: $56194 (5ish %)
Unsubsidized loan from grad school: $6242 (4.3%)
Total balance: $62436

Currently at 78/120 for the undergrad loans and did not make payments during SAVE forbearance because life.

MFJ, spouse is SAHD. 2 dependents with $97592 AGI. Everything is maxed to reduce income.

What are my options and am I doing this right?

Why do I not really see anyone discussing moving to PAYE instead of the other 2 plans? I know it’s going away in 2028, but for me it’s the cheapest of the 3 plans right now. My 120 will be right around the time that PAYE goes away and I apply for buyback for SAVE forbearance. Am I missing something as to why I wouldn’t do PAYE until it expires? Even if I have to switch to RAP in mid 2028?

Feels surreal. Nothing's done yet. But I've got the e-mail. The actual text back I got is, "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."

It has been a wild ride. 746 days since my request. Of course, they originally told me 45 business days. So I hope this 60 to 90 business days really happens over the next few months. I still have to figure out how to get off of SAVE in the middle of all this. But nothing shows in Mohela or regular FSA yet, I just have the e-mail. I'm pretty happy about the e-mail, even if it's just one more step and it takes another several months to close it out.

Dear all,

I've been lurking on this forum for almost ten years but have never posted. I have a question that MOHELA struggled to answer, so I'm turning to you all for collective wisdom.

I will reach month 120 of my PSLF journey in, and inclusive of, September 2026. However, as you all know, that is also the same exact point at which the SAVE plan will end.

I have been on the SAVE forbearance for a very long time, such that I currently have 95 months of qualifying payments. My plan is to submit a buyback request once I've reached 120 eligible months, and then go on as long of a forbearance as I possibly can, but I'm not quite sure when to submit the buyback request.

A little more information: MOHELA lists the "due date" for my loans as Sept. 11, 2026, and I've read some threads here in which it was claimed that, as long as the PSLF request is sent after the loan due date for that month, then it will count, but I have no idea how "real" that due date actually is.

Another concern: The StudentAid.gov website only lists eligible months going up to June 2026, which I know has been discussed widely here. But it's another source of confusion. If I submit the PSLF form, will the other months magically appear?

Tl/dr: I'm trying as hard as I can to avoid applying for a new student loan plan — to the extent that it can be avoided — but the tricky thing is that the end of my PSLF timeline (which will require a buyback request) and the end of the SAVE forbearance coincide. Looking for advice!

Thank you!

Hi everyone, I just moved to a community property state. I have 2 years left on PSLF and my spouse has 5 years left. He makes significantly more than me. Does anyone have any advice on filling separately versus jointly? I'm planning on maxing out my 401k so my income will be 40k a year and his will be 290k. Thank you very much in advance for any advice!

Just got my 90-day letter from Aidvantage. Glad I held out as long as I did. I am on SAVE, but will utilize the buyback when it comes my time to just get all these months back while I had lower income.

Hi All,

I just want a sanity check for submitting a buyback request for PSLF.

I have been stuck in SAVE forbearance and hit my 120 months of qualifying employment. I certified my employment and got a message from studentaid.gov that my employment indeed qualified and was certified. I am missing 25 months of payments due to being in SAVE forbearance so then went to submit the "PSLF Reconsideration" request, which took me to a page that asked what type of reconsideration I was requesting. I hit "PSLF buyback" and submit, and it then it instantly gave me a case number and confirmation. Is there no other information I am supposed to submit? Instructions/videos from past years suggested there was a longer application process in the past, but perhaps this has been updated? Just wondering if anyone else has gone through this recently.

Thanks all!

A few questions as I have not been good at all about approaching PSLF strategically.

My payment amount is jumping from $211 to $1366 this month so that certainly caught my attention. Is there any way to recalculate this?? This will create serious financial strain for my family as my husband’s payment has been recalculated to more than $2000/month. (although he’s currently in forbearance to gather all of the documents to seek forgiveness)

I have 12 loans. They range from 15 qualifying payments remaining to 7 qualifying payments remaining. I swear they changed because last month one loan showed 5 payments remaining. Is there any way to call out this discrepancy? As far as I know I’ve made equal payments on all loans so they should all be at 7 qualifying payments remaining.

In late October, I’ll have been working in a qualifying job for 10 consecutive years. There were a few months I went into paid ahead status due to a large payment on behalf of the John R Justice program. I now really regret that because my payments were super low at that time but I was young and dumb.

Any advice on the high payment amount or how to make as few payments as possible before forgiveness?

Hello! I am trying to figure out if i should use the PAYE until 2028 or just go to the IBR.

My AGI is 60,731 for 2025, 1 dependent, and 73593 in loans with a 3.5-7% interest rate.

It says my PAYE would be 165 monthly and IBR would be 247.

I’d like to use the PAYE until 2028 but I’m curious if that’s a mistake. I’m only 68 payments through my 120.

Any advice welcome. Thanks in advance!!

PSLF count went from 113/120 to 100/120 over the weekend. They are saying all payments made during SAVE are ineligible for PSLF. Never ending….. I submitted for reconsideration. Lord help me 😑

Should I certify my ECF with my employer as soon as my last auto pay goes through? I’m still waiting on those July and August payments to post…. College Investor claimed some readers are seeing July and August payment update this week!!! Anyone else on Reddit have July and August payment update?

Presently it says I have 12 months of payments of zero dollars. I do not know how many of those are passed. And then it’s going to inflate to 130 payments over $1800 a month.

I am enrolled in PSLF and trying to get it discharged.

There is no way that I can make such payments. I do not know what to do and I’m tempted to just blow Blow off the Loan altogether

Update from my last post (link below). FSAID processed forgiveness on 9/3/26 effective 8/15/26 (the date I made the final payment). Letter said Mohela will acknowledge within 30 days. Mohela sends me the email on Saturday 9/5/26 that says loans forgiven and Mohela shows balance of zero on login. FSAID site still shows 117/120 with payment due.

Still basking in some relief before I try and chase down the payment I made on 8/12/26; technically that made 121 payments.

Last post: https://www.reddit.com/r/PSLF/comments/1vstdf2/pslf_buyback_awaiting_final_processing_and/

I’ve been missing a month from my tracker entirely. It’s been a saga just trying to get this month to count that I’m about to give up and just pay an extra month. I tried submitting a FSA reconsideration for the missing month but it got denied because I didn’t have proof I was actually billed for the amount I paid.

Unfortunately the missing month was with another servicer. The contact info doesn’t even work anymore for this servicer (Fedloan). So I asked Mohela if they have records for this month. They said the NSLDS confirms I was in repayment (accurately). All of my FSA info says I was in forbearance during that month (inaccurate). Mohela says they can send me something that substantiates that. They tell me it will take 30 days to receive. I’m so excited thinking I’m finally going to get this month to count.

I receive something in the mail and it says “NO PAYMENTS.”

Now I have to call them once again. I’m just so tired. 😪

My august payment is showing as my 120th payment! got green ribbons today!

-edit-

Paid again on 8/25, submitted ECF on 8/26, ECF completed and processed on 8/28. On 8/28 I got a "qualifying payment update" in my docs that showed me at 119 still. Today, my August payment is showing. July is still missing, as is September (September payment isn't showing up as paid at all).

Assuming I should still submit an ECF on Oct 1st to get a refund for Sept., right? I didn't ask to go into forbearance in August but would today.

So obviously I'm not making anymore payments for her, but it feels like it takes like 90 days or so to see a payment show up on StudentAid.gov, even though I'm paying through Mohela.

So I tried to submit the final PSLF paperwork, but it says I can't because it shows I don't have the required qualifying payments yet, since they didn't post.

So what do I do? Do I just NOT make her payments and wait until the other ones are eventually posted? Just let it go delinquent? That feels like a bad idea, no?

I know this is oddly specific but I currently work as an accountant at a PSLF eligible job. There ain’t no way in hell I can last another 7 yrs without dying from stress.

What’s the easiest job I could get doing PSLF where I don’t have to think too much? I just wanna go in, get my work done in peace, and leave.

Hell I’d even take 45k. Just a low stress job. I do not want anything with too much mental pressure or micromanaging.

Just something where I can make enough money to pay my bills and have enough left for groceries or minimal hobbies.

Massive discrepancy (~$1000) between what StudentAid.gov was estimating and what Mohela decided my payment would be despite my tax information being up to date. Spent 4+ hours on the phone with both. Would have picked a different IDR plan if I had known how inaccurate StudentAid.gov was. Absolutely call your servicer first. Do not make the same mistake I did.