PSLF Question about qualifying employment

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in Medical Surgical.

Hi Guys, hoping someone can clarify this for me.

I made some very poor borrowing choices while getting my degree and now I have a humongous amount of student loan debt. I am working at a local hospital and have applied for PSLF. I have 8 more years to go. I have only been a med-surg nurse for 3 years and I am starting to have issues with my joints, and I can't foresee that I will be able to do bedside nursing for another 10 years. When reading the information below, am I understanding correctly that I do not necessarily have to be working as a nurse to continue with the PSLF? That I could in fact get a job with the government in another capacity and still qualify?

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

[h=2]What is qualifying employment?[/h] Qualifying employment for the PSLF Program is not about the specific job that you do for your employer. Rather, it is about who your employer is. Employment with the following types of organizations qualifies for PSLF:

  • Government organizations at any level (federal, state, local, or tribal)
  • Not-for-profit organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501©(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
  • Other types of not-for-profit organizations that are not tax-exempt under Section 501©(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, if their primary purpose is to provide certain types of qualifying public services

Serving as a full-time AmeriCorps or Peace Corps volunteer also counts as qualifying employment for the PSLF Program.

The following types of employers do not qualify for PSLF:

  • Labor unions
  • Partisan political organizations
  • For-profit organizations (this includes for-profit government contractors)
  • Not-for-profit organizations that are not tax-exempt under Section 501©(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and that do not provide a qualifying public service as their primary function

Government contractors: For-profit government contractors are not qualifying employers. You must be directly employed by a qualifying employer for your employment to count toward PSLF. If you are employed by an organization that is doing work under a contract with a government agency or other organization, then it is your employer's status, not the status of the organization that your employer has a contract with, that determines whether your employment qualifies for PSLF.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness | Federal Student Aid

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