PSLF FAQs

Index

1. Overview

1.1 - Public Service Loan Forgiveness  (PSLF)

1.2 - PSLF Employment Certification Form (ECF)

2. Technical Questions

2.1 - Process Overview

2.2 - ECF Routing 

2.3 - Accepted Signatures

2.4 - Forwarding Forms

2.5 - Firewall/Security Issues

3. Completing and Understanding the Form

3.1-  Multiple Employment Periods/Multiple Positions

3.2 - PSLF Eligibility

3.3 - Full-time vs. Part-Time

3.4 - Per Diem

4. Support

4.1 - Borrower Support/Who to contact

4.2 - HR Support/ Who to contact

5. Role of Employer HR & Accountability 

Overview

Public Service Loan Forgiveness - 1.1

• What is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program? 
  • The PSLF program allows borrowers to receive forgiveness on the remaining balance on their Direct Loans once they’ve made 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan while being employed full-time by a qualifying employer.
  • Qualifying Repayment Plans:
    • IDR plans: IBR, PAYE, ICR, and SAVE (Formerly known as REPAYE
  • Qualifying Employers: 
    • Government Employee (federal, state, local, or tribal)
    • Not-for-profit and 501c3 employers

• How do borrowers qualify for PSLF? 
  • To qualify for PSLF, borrowers must:
    • Be employed by a U.S. federal, state, local, or tribal government or not-for-profit organization 
    • Work full-time (30 hours a week or more) for that agency or organization;
    • Have Direct Loans (or consolidate other federal student loans into a Direct Loan);
    • Repay their loans under an income-driven repayment plan*; and
    • Make 120 qualifying payments while working for an eligible employer.*

• Once all of these conditions are met, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program forgives the remaining balance on borrowers qualifying loan(s).

*All information related to Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility originates from the Department of Education. For more information, visit: https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service

PSLF Employment Certification Form - 1.2

What is the PSLF Employment Certification Form? 

• The PSLF Employment Certification form collects information about the borrower’s employment history. Employers must certify certain employment details, such as employment dates and average hours worked. Details of the employment will also be needed such as FEIN/EIN, Employment Name, and Address.

• Employees submit a Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) annually or when they change their employers. 

• This allows the Department of Education to track whether a borrower is making qualifying PSLF payments and helps borrowers determine their timeline for receiving loan forgiveness. 

• You can view the PSLF Employment Certification Form here. 

ECF Signing Process (Technical)

ECF Signing Process, 2.1

• How Does the ECF Signing Process Work? 

• Before launching Savi, your HR team provides its preference (via the Savi Onboarding survey) on: 

  • Where the PSLF ECFs will be sent via email
  • How each of the fields below should be prefilled in the form (optional): 
    • Employer Name
    • Employer FEIN
    • Employer Address
    • Employer Status (501c3 or Government entity) 
    • HR Official Information (optional)
      • HR Official’s Name
      • HR Official’s Title
      • HR Official’s Phone Number 
      • HR Official’s Email Address
• Employees who have signed up for the Savi Essential or PRO plans receive support processing their PSLF ECFs digitally.
• Your HR team will only receive PSLF ECFs for employees who are enrolled in Savi Essential or PRO. You may receive forms from employees who no longer work at your organization. You should still sign and certify these forms. 
  • Please note: Savi users who are not Savi Essential or PRO will submit forms however they previously were doing so (manually, via fax, etc.)
• Once an employee submits their PSLF ECF through the Savi tool, the ECF will be emailed to the requested HR inbox.
• Once opened from that inbox, your HR team will see a preview of the form that is not editable. You will see the majority of the form will be pre-filled (depending on information provided by your organization to Savi), and the HR official completing the form will need to click ‘Continue’ to make edits and add the employee’s start date/end date, confirm whether they are still employed, and input their average hours per week.
• The HR official will then sign the form, click “Sign & Approve”, and have the option to download the completed form.

• At what point can the ECF be downloaded? 

HR contacts can download a copy of the completed PSLF ECF upon completion for their records. 

• What email address will the  ECF come from and what will the subject line be? 
  • The subject line will be "Action Required: [Employee Name] Employment Certification Form" and the email will come from [e-mail]. 
    • This is a no-reply email address and the inbox is not monitored. If you need to get in touch with Savi, reach out to [e-mail]. 
  • Please note: Ensure that our email is not blocked by your email administrator, otherwise the emails might go to your spam/junk folder. Please ask your administrator to add Savi as an approved domain.

• Is this email forwardable? 
  • It is best practice to not forward this email or link. If you have any questions, please reach out to Savi’s Partner Success team at [e-mail]. 

• Is there any password or login setup needed? 
  • There is no password or login needed at this time. 

• Will the link/ECF ever expire?
  • The link will expire after 5 days for security purposes. A new link will be sent if an HR official clicks on an expired link. 
  • We encourage HR officials to complete forms as quickly as possible. 

• What questions on the form will the HR official need to complete? 
  • The HR official will need to complete questions 4-6 in section three of the form, which includes the Employment Start Date, Employment End Date, Full-time / Part-time status, and average hours per week worked. The HR official will then need to complete Section 5A of the form. 

• Is the information on the preview page editable? 
  • The preview page gives you the chance to check the employee’s information to see if it matches your employee records. The employee’s information is non-editable, and if there is a mismatch, you can click the “Incorrect Borrower Information” button. If sections 4-5A do not have the correct information listed during the preview phase, you can edit the information once you click “Continue”. You do not need to decline the form.

• Is there a section or place where we can find ECF status and see what forms are pending?
  • Employers who have access to the Admin Dashboard can also complete forms via their Dashboard and check the status of completed forms. Forms that have been submitted and/or completed in the last 30 days will appear here. If you need a status for a form that was completed over 30 days, you can email [e-mail].

PSLF ECF Routing, 2.2

• Why are the PSLF ECF forms not being sent to the HR email we requested? 

• In the Savi tool, users select their employer(s) from a dropdown menu. Users should select the verified entry for their employer. If they don't pick the verified entry from the dropdown, they will be able to enter the email address of where they want their ECF emailed. 

• If you need a PSLF ECF re-routed to a different email address, email [e-mail]. 

Acceptable Signatures, 2.3

• How do HR officials sign electronically?
  • Officials will hand draw their signature, acknowledge the electronic signature, sign, and submit.

• What types of signatures are acceptable when signing a PSLF ECF?

• According to studentaid.gov, "Digital signatures from you or your employer must be hand drawn (from a signature pad, mouse, finger, or by taking a picture of a signature drawn on a piece of paper that you then scan and embed on the signature line of the PSLF form) to be accepted. Typed signatures, even if made to mimic a hand-drawn signature or security certificate-based signatures are not accepted."
• When signing a PSLF ECF through Savi, employers will only be able to hand draw their signature. 

ECF Help (Non-Technical) 

Qualifying Employment - Multiple Employment Periods 3.1

• Will multiple ECFs need to be created for employees who have left their employment and been rehired?  

• Yes, multiple ECFs will need to be signed for employees who have left employment and are rehired. If the employee has two or more separate periods of employment, you can add these different periods when completing the original ECF to generate additional forms. After you enter their current or most recent employment period, you will click the blue “+ Add Employment Period” button. Make sure to answer “no” to the question “Still Employed at…” for additional periods, this way you are prompted to enter an end date. 

• What happens if an employee has multiple periods of employment?

• If an employee has multiple periods of employment with the same employer, you can add them during the signing process. After you enter the requested period, you can click “+ Add Employment Period” for each period.

• What happens if an employee works multiple positions with the same employer?
  • If an employee has held multiple positions with an employer and has been continuously employed, you can list the original start and end dates on one page. 
  • If their employment has separate periods (such as leaving an organization and coming back), you will need to complete an additional page 2 for each employment period. Additional pages can be added during the signing process. If you experience any issues please email [e-mail] for assistance. 

Qualifying Employment, PSLF Eligibility  - 3.2

• Since the PSLF program is for a 10-year period, would we need to provide original hire information for employees whose original dates of service are more than 10 years old?

• Yes - student loan payments do not have to be consecutive in order to qualify for loan forgiveness. If their employment started and ended prior to October 2007 (when the PSLF program started), you do not need to certify it. If their employment started before October 2007 but didn’t end until after October 2007, then we want to make sure that it is certified. 

• What should we do in the case where an employee may have worked for an organization that our organization recently acquired? 

• As long as you feel comfortable certifying the prior employment at the acquired organization, you’re allowed to certify these dates as employment and use your employer information. (This is because if the former employer doesn’t exist, there might not be a way for the employee to certify their employment dates, other than through your organization).

Qualifying Employment, Full-time vs. Part-time - 3.3

• How should we certify a form of an employee who has worked both full-time and part-time? Should we take the average of hours worked per week instead of just certifying FTE?

• If the average hours worked per week over the full employment period (both full and part-time), averages out to be considered FTE, you can certify full-time employment for the whole period. This would mean that the employee gets credits for payments made even when they were below the level of FTE. 
• If the employee worked more part-time than full-time, you should complete multiple page 2’s, one for the full-time employment and a separate one for the part-time employment.

• Should I certify employment dates if I receive an ECF request for a part-time employee?

• Yes, employers should certify part-time employment dates. In the Savi tool, an ECF won’t generate unless the employee has entered enough part-time employers in that period to be considered working full-time. 

• What happens if the employee works 30 hours a week but is not considered full-time with our organization?
  • The PSLF definition of full-time is 30 hours, so if the employee worked that amount, you can certify them as full-time and check that box on the form. This will not trigger any change in their employment status at your organization.

• How should I calculate an adjunct faculty member’s hours?
  • Recent changes to the PSLF program allow adjunct faculty to multiply their hours, so they get closer to the 30-hour full-time threshold.  
  • For non-tenured/adjunct faculty, the number of credit hours they teach should be multiplied by 3.35. Ex: If the employee teaches 6 credit hours per week, you would multiply 6 x 3.35, for a total weekly hours worked of 20.1.
  • For part-time employees who aren’t adjunct faculty/don’t teach any credit hours, simply report their hours normally. Ex: a part-time employee works 15 hours per week, their form would last 15 hours.

Qualifying Employment, Per Diem- 3.5

• What happens when an employee is per diem?

• If you don’t have access to an employee’s full history, they’ll need to check the box on the ECF that says their employer can’t verify employment. 
• Then, Savi will ask you to send us a note on your organization's letterhead/with a signature stating the below (language can be updated). We’ll submit this note with the employee’s ECF:
  • To whom it may concern,

This letter is to inform you of the dates worked for [EMPLOYEE NAME]. [EMPLOYEE NAME] worked for [EMPLOYER NAME]  from [DATE], as [TITLE].

While [EMPLOYEE NAME] was employed by [EMPLOYER], we used the outside [FOR PROFIT COMPANY NAME] for payroll. They are a for-profit company.

[EMPLOYER NAME] is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. [EMPLOYER NAME]'s Federal EIN is [FEIN NUMBER].

If you need any further information, please contact me.

[HR NAME] 

[HR SIGNATURE] 

Savi Support

Support, Borrower Support/Who to contact - 4.1

• Who should I  reach out to if we have a question about an ECF that I received? 

• Please send all questions to [e-mail].

• Who should our employees reach out to if they are unsure of the status of their ECF?
  • Registered Savi Essential or PRO Users should: 
    • Go to their Savi dashboard to make sure all their form(s) have been signed by your employer.
    • If the form is pending with HR to sign, it will say “Sent to Employer” under the “Submitted ECF” section.
    • If they see an employer in the “Start a New Form” section, they should resubmit the ECF. They can also reach out to their employers to make sure that the HR email listed in the ECF is still valid.
    • If they don’t see an employer on their Savi dashboard, they should go back to the application and add the employer to their work history before returning to the ECF Enrollment Page.
  • If they have further questions, they should reach out to our team by signing into their Savi account and clicking the Contact Support button.

Support, HR Support/Who to contact - 4.2

• Who should we contact if we need a form sent to a different contact? 

• When a form is sent to the wrong contact because the employee did not select a verified option and entered the contact information manually. For these instances, you can reach out to [e-mail] and we can route the form to the correct contact. 

Role of Employer HR and Accountability 

• Does the Department of Education ask employers for “proof” of employment? 

• The Department of Education considers the employer the source of truth. The only time they might reach out to employers is when there’s information missing on the ECF. 

• What happens if we fail to sign a form (for example, we miss the initial email)?  
  • If a form does not get completed in a timely manner, you will receive reminder emails from Savi.

• If an employee submits an ECF with an error in it, what’s the process? What should HR do?
  • If there is an error in section 1, HR should click the “Decline to Sign” option and explain the issue. Savi Customer Support will reach out to the borrower and once the issue is solved, Savi will send a new PSLF ECF to the employer.

• What happens if HR cannot find an employee in their system?
  • If you cannot match the ECF to a borrower at your organization, HR should click the “Decline to Sign” option and explain the issue. This will create a ticker in our system and Savi Customer Support will reach out to the borrower. Once the issue is solved, Savi will send a new PSLF ECF to the employer.

• If our team is having trouble with opening the links, what could be the issue? 
  • When partners/employers have trouble opening the requests Savi sends over, it tends to be an issue with their firewall/security settings. We suggest you whitelist the following URLs with your security team, to ensure this process moves smoothly. 
    • bysavi.com
    • ecustomeriomail.com
    • ciotracking.bysavi.com