I am one of many folks that submitted a buyback offer December 2024. I needed to buyback 7 months. It will be two years December 2026 since I submitted this request. Thankfully, I took myself off of SAVE and started repayment June 2026. So December will make my 120th payment.

I submitted a case to FSA and said, if there is anyone with a heart on the other end of this case, please process my buyback request. Yes, I did in fact say these words. The response is so disheartening, per usual, but I still wanted to share.

__________________________________________________________________________

Dear xxxxxxxx,

Thank you for contacting the U.S. Department of Education's office of Federal Student Aid. This message is in reference to your inquiry about buybacks. Your case number is xxxxxxxx. Retain this number for reference.

After reviewing your account, we located a Buyback request. Buyback's have been updated to "no timeframe", meaning the cases can take as long as they need to process. Since yours is still here and pending, you will have to allow it time to process. Once the account is process you will get an email advising your next steps.

If you need more help or have any questions, reply to this email or contact us.

Sincerely,

Federal Student Aid

My worst fear is starting to be realized. I was really hoping July and August were glitches and counts would start showing up on the tracker in September. I just made my October payment today and still no payment showing up on PSLF tracker. Last payment eligible payment is still saying June 2026. I've heard some people had September payments show up, seems to be no rhyme or reason to this mess.

Only comfort is the NLSDS data is showing I have 120 eligible payments.. hopefully soon to be 121. They have until 2027 and i'm going into forbearance.

TL;DR- if you have MOHELA and you are past 121 waiting for the tracker to update, call MOHELA and ask for a processing forbearance, not a general forbearance. Submitting a forbearance with an ECF is not enough if you're affected by the delay glitch. ---EDITED TO ADD: This is what I was told, I think other folks have been told otherwise but what I do know is a processing forbearance seems like the safest way to buy some time.

Hi all -My July/Aug/Sept payments were # 119/120/121 and of course are not updating on the FSA tracker (although they have updated on the backdoor NSLDS). I submitted an ECF at the end of September and requested a forbearance with that ECF. As of today 10/15 that signed ECF is still processing. In October my payment amount went up about 4x and I decided I was absolutely not going to pay that 122nd payment (due this upcoming Monday).

Today I called MOHELA, sat on hold for about 80 min (estimated 45min, what a lie) and explained the situation, requesting forbearance. Tammy told me "I'm going to put you in a processing forbearance, because any other kind including a general will stop FSA from being able to update and you'll have more delays." It is a 60 day processing forbearance, and if it's not updated by about 50 days (early December) I was told to call back. and IF/WHEN the tracker is updated and it shows 120, call MOHELA back to shift to a General Forbearance, as "this pauses everything - approximated due dates, payment counts, etc". My online MOHELA account already reflects the forbearance, too.

The fact that I had submitted a forbearance request through FSA with my ECF did NOT make a difference - this may go into effect automatically once FSA processes it, but if you're in the same boat, do not wait on it.

Hope this helps someone - hang in there yall!

Made my 120 payment yesterday(i actually paid first of the month, but the 14th is my due date). My FSA counter has not updated since September 9th and has me stuck sat 116 missing my four payments. Checked the NSLDS this morning and it at least has me at 120 eligible payments after updating late yesterday, previous last update for it was 10-2-26. Hoping this means as soon as they update the counters again Ill get taken to 120, Im submitting my employment verification today or monday whenever my HR sends it back to me, and will be asking for forbearance on November 1.

Edited: changed qualifying to eligible

I finally hit 10 years of qualifying employment, submitted a fresh ECF (and it's been processed/accepted), and went to submit my buyback request, only to see this message:

Ineligible for PSLF Buyback You're not eligible to submit a buyback request as you're currently enrolled in the Repayment Assistance Plan.

To be clear, I'm trying to buyback the months from when I was forced into forebearance for being on SAVE. I found some posts where it was rumored enrolling in RAP might make you ineligible for buyback, but no confirmation (and mostly people disagreeing that it would work that way). Has anyone successfully applied for buyback after enrolling in RAP?

Today I filed a complaint with the Student Loan Ombudsperson's Office in Massachusetts with all of the details from the last five months with Mohela's incompetence. I messaged Mohela today and asked why they insist that I am delinquent by $89.00 when I'm in forbearance until 11/4/26 and even with autopay set-up, if they wanted it, they could've taken it! So now they're sending me nastygrams about it and they can carry on doing so because I'm not paying what I don't owe them. I took screenshots of everything since their correspondence disappears after a year.

I submitted for a general forbearance today because this is actually insane and I'm not paying another dime until they figure themselves out. I messaged a customer service rep at FedLoan Servcing and this is the response "Savannah" gave me:

Federal Student Aid is currently aware of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness payment tracker in being not up to date in updating months. We continue to work on updating your PSLF payment counts and during this time, your payment counts may shift or appear incomplete. Check back for updates periodically. You can keep track of your payment count in your Dashboard under My Activity, select My Loans, and then PSLF Payments.

If you need to request a forbearance, you can do so by downloading, printing, and uploading a PSLF form from here under Loan Forgiveness. This would take 15 business days to process.

Translation: Fill out another ECF Form and see what happens, kiddo!

After receiving notification to resume payments, I was hit with some pretty shocking payment numbers that are causing me to rethink my life path forward.

I was considering looking into possibly pursuing a PSLF route, but after lurking on this sub for a little bit, it feels like the experience has been tricky and confusing to navigate at best…

If you were to restart all over again, not back when you did but now, would you choose to go the PSLF route today? I want honest experiences and answers from those of you in the midst of it, wondering if it’s a worthwhile pursuit in today’s climate or not…

Kind of a wacky idea, but at this point with getting such vague and conflicting info about the July-Oct missing payments, I wonder if we’d get more info by making a FOIA request for all official communication related to how they are fixing this issue. I would imagine they are discussing potential timelines internally but have been directed not to tell customers in case it takes longer.

Someone on here said Thursday would be the day FSA fixes the tracker. Anyone else hear this from FSA? Of course I don’t believe it but maybe there is a glimmer of hope that I’m holding on to.

Under PSLF- eligible payment count is how many payments studentaid.gov is reporting (and matches the tracker, but eligible payment count is how many payments I made that should be counted when I submit my ecf...right?

I've read about some suboptimal experiences people have had with PAYE recertification recently, so I thought I'd share my own to hopefully ease some nerves and maybe learn from my prior mistake.

I switched to PAYE following the SAVE injunction. Last year when I got my first recertification 90 day notice I submitted recertification documentation electronically right away. They were reviewed and approved within 2 days and my new payment amount started the following month meaning my prior payment amount was only in effect for 9 months. This directly contradicts the guidance in those very forms saying recertification would be held so that "borrowers could take advantage of the full 12 months of their income based repayment plan". I've read here about others being similarly misled.

Because this year my salary has increased, I wanted to keep my current payment amount for as long as possible so I waited until the day before the recertification deadline to electronically submit the forms via studentaid.gov. I got notice from Mohela 2 days later that they had recieved the recertification request and 5 days after that got notice from Mohela that my IDR plan request was approved. My new payment amount will start next month- still 1 month sooner than it should be, but ultimately better than the 3 months I was cut short last year.

Best of luck to everyone running their own repayment marathons and keep the faith!

TL;DR: On Standard repayment, 17 payments short of 120. Submitted a buyback request in April 2025 that would close the gap. 18 months later, ED says "pending, no timeline, can't expedite," even after my Rep's office escalated. Do I just keep paying and let the clock run out, or is there a way to force movement?

Quick timeline

• Apr 2025: Buyback request submitted via PSLF Reconsideration
• Jul & Oct 2025: Filed two more requests (mistake, I know)
• Jun 2026: FSA closed the duplicates and kept the original open "in order received." Same week, my Rep's caseworker submitted an inquiry to ED
• Sep 2026: ED via caseworker: still under review, no queue position, no ETA, no expedite, decision will come by email

My situation: Qualifying employer, re-certified May 2026. Moved off SAVE and now on the Standard plan. 17 qualifying payments to go; buyback would cover those months.

What I'm trying to figure out:

1. Keep paying or wait? At 17 to go, normal payments get me to 120 in under a year and a half. Does continuing to pay make the buyback moot, or is there a reason to keep both tracks going?
2. Has anyone with an early or mid-2025 buyback request gotten a decision? Your submit month → decision month would help a lot.
3. What escalation actually moved the needle for you? Senator's office vs. House, FSA Ombudsman, ED congressional liaison, something else?

Happy to share whatever details help. I'll update this post when there's movement so it helps the next person.

Marking this post.. hopefully this will be my only over-payment before they fix the tracker. But it's the first month I'm sitting with Green Banners on half my loans, and stuck at 117 when it's officially 121 now on the other loans. Really frustrating if this continues into 2027.

My 120th payment is this month. I would like to file jointly this year with my husband. Will this negatively affect me?

Hi! I recently applied for consolidation and for PSLF for the first time. My tracker has been frozen at 55 payment for 2 loans and 38 for 2 loans with 83 waiting verification. My form has been in for 3 weeks. I received my 10 day letter to consolidate my FFEL and direct loans. I know there will be a weighted average. Has anyone consolidated with payments pending employment verification? Should I cancel and wait? If these 83 are approved and some of my loans are over 120 will I be able to add them? Should I consolidate only my FFEL and add the direct once the count updates? Will take any and all advice thank you!

Hi All,

My time to switch off SAVE is coming up soon (last day to do this is Oct. 27 for me):

• Servicer: MOHELA
• Buyback Request: Late-November 2024
• PSLF Current Counts: 115/120
• Need to buyback: 5 more (July 2024 - November 2024)
• Old Plan: REPAYE -> auto-switched to SAVE
• Loans from 2008-2014 (undergrad and grad school)
• Consolidated various loans into two sub and unsub loans back in late 2022 (to take advantage of the limited PSLF waiver from the Biden admin)

Questions:

• Should I make the official change one week before Oct 27? Which is next Tuesday, Oct 20 to give DoE/MOHELA time to fully process my app?
• Which new repayment plan should I choose? IBR? RAP? Standard? I think all three count for PSLF credit if/when I start making payments again?
• Should I request a general forbearance once I am approved on a new plan (in hopes for the buyback to process soon)?
  
• If I decide to make payments, do I need to submit a recertification of my income? My income grew a lot during the pandemic era.
• How does a ECF come into play? Does that invalidate the buyback request? Say if I make 5 additional payments in the near future, and submit an ECF right after, would that be an issue?
• Other helpful thoughts or feedback?

Thanks in advance!

Has anyone been able to apply for buyback even without their July -Sept payments showing?

I plan to apply for buyback in December but I’m just wondering if I will be able to do that if those months don’t show.

Hi all,

Crossposting from r/studentloans as I don’t know if this is more a general student loan question or PSLF question

Wondering if anyone has run into this before and has experience.

I have a total outstanding loan balance of about 420k (avg interest rate 6.7%)

I have a potential of an employment position with student loan repayment assistance. It would be in excess of my current monthly payment, by a significant amount.

My current goal is to work towards PSLF forgiveness and I have about 3 years of payments to go.

I am confused (even after a phone call with nelnet) about what happens with the extra money that is paid in excess of my monthly payment. It sounds like it can either push your due date out a month (which may affect qualifying payments?) or go towards loan with highest interest, but then this may affect other loans? It was all very confusing to me and the rep could not explain much.

My question is, as someone who is working towards PSLF, what is the best way to allocate these employment contributions? If I leave everything as it is (going towards loans with highest interest) but still do my monthly auto debit, is that better than putting the loans into a paid ahead status?

Giving rough numbers my current monthly payment is about $150 and my potential employer is contributing $1000/month

Not sure if anyone else has run into this or has any advice

I got approved for my new payment plan (PAYE), and it told me my forbearance would be up on 10/11. On 10/11, the charge went up with a due date of 11/11. I just want to make sure, after seeing a post on here about somebody who paid earlier than the due date and things going haywire - should I wait until November to make the payment? If I make it now in October, will it not count as a November PSLF payment?

I have 141 payments with early Aug green banners. I called today to ask Aidvantage about forbearance, and they put me in a temporary forbearance for 60 days. I didn't have to agree to anything, just poof on hold. I haven't been on a requested forbearance in probably 15 years, but I thought I needed to provide a verbal agreement or something (my memory is foggy). Has anyone else leveraged this method--temp forbearance while waiting for the golden letter?

I am on deferment for being unemployed and called MOHELA today. I was on hold for 2 hours and 35 minutes because you can’t do it yourself online. The representative but in the request to end early and said it could take up to 120 days. How long has it actually taken for deferment to end after requesting?

I know I can make manual payments, but only have about 36 months left to hit 120 for PSLF and I’m now employed with a qualified employer again. I’m pretty certain my loans have to be in repayment to qualify for PSFL and not in deferment with manual payments. And payments would go to interest first is what the rep told me.

Hey! Like lots of people, I am a July 120er stuck in 119 purgatory. I've made two additional payments and I've submitted ECFs after each payment. I'm now at 122/120 payments and obviously no tracker update since June. My NSLDS data shows me at 122 qualified/eligible payments for each of my PSLF loans. I want to apply for forbearance while waiting.

Has anyone done this with EdFinancial? Is it an easy process? Did you ask for personal, general, or processing forbearance?

Any help or advice would be great!

hello! i am trying to get more organized in tracking my buyback request/general forbearance time frames.

i submitted my buyback request in march 2025 and am struggling to remember the details of the process. ive just been in set it and forget it mode.

i cannot figure out how to speak to a human and keep being told that there's no way to check the status and that as long as i got an email confirmation, im still in line to be processed.

this led me to panic bc i cannot find an email with the words "buyback". the email i found from the day i submitted it states, "Thank you for submitting a Public Service Loan Forgiveness Reconsideration request." this is it, right?? can anyone who submitted for buyback in early 2025 confirm for me that this was the verbiage being used at the time?

i would also love any feedback on how to verify with a human that my application remains active.

i know it's taking forever and im fine to patiently wait - i just want to know that im actually still in the disorderly application pool.

thanks!!

Hi friends, I'm hoping to get some advice about what to do regarding a buyback request and (possibly) going into a general forbearance. I apologize in advance if this is well-trodden territory in this sub.
Here is my situation:
studentaid.gov is showing 112 qualifying payments, and my last 3 payments for August, September, and October were made normally through Mohela but FSA hasn't recorded them yet.
So I will be at 115 qualifying payments when/if FSA updates them (how big of an "if" is this?)

There are 5 months where I went into forbearance in 2024 when my payments were turned back on and I just had some inertia getting it sorted out to start paying again (these months are June, July, August, September, and November of 2024).

I have now gotten to 120 months of certified full-time qualifying employment since I started PSLF repayment. And from what I understand I should be able to do a buyback for those 5 months, put myself on general forbearance so I don't have to make anymore payments, pay whatever that amount would have been for the 5 months in 2024 when I was previously on forbearance to Dept of Ed, and put this whole nightmare to rest.

A major major reason I want to do this is because my IDR PAYE plan that I just recertified is over tripling my monthly payments. These increased payments are going to hurt so badly that I am going to have to start making the tough decisions of "do I want groceries or utilities?" this winter.
I am really frugal, but simply house poor and don't have anymore wiggle room, so I feel like I simply can't make these increased payments. But having these student loans hang over my head is really wearing on me and I would do anything to make them go away.

I submitted my buyback request yesterday, but honestly I am scared that if I go into a forbearance and stop paying that something is going to go wrong and I will be on the hook for monthly payments of god-only-knows how much at some random point years down the road.
Representatives at FSA and Mohela are all over the place with thier advice, and, at best, equivocate or just tell me I can always just keep making payments until I feel better about it.
I would love some advice from y'all because my fellow PSLF borrowers on this sub seem to be the only people who live in reality when it comes to PSLF

Thank you, and I appreciate you all!

Hi all. Thank you for your time and patience. I am currently 40 months into my PSLF journey. I have to choose a new payment plan by Nov 15. Can anyone give me advice as to what is cheapest i make roughly 75 K a year as a teacher. I know the PAYE system is ending in 2028. Is it worth it to switch to that or switch right to the RAP program. Any help will be appreciated i feel so embarrassed having no idea what to do.