With all the recent changes surrounding student loans, it’s easy to fall out of the loop. If you’re not up-to-date on public service loan forgiveness (PSLF) and other rule changes related to repayment of your medical school loans, you’ll want to tune into our conversation.

Major changes happening with medical school loans

1. A one-time adjustment of your payment count in July 2023.
• If you had 12 consecutive months in forbearance, or a total of 36 months (not necessarily consecutive), then you qualify for a one-time adjustment in July of 2023.

   

2. PSLF rules will be changing – permanently.
• There’s a new definition of full-time work: 30 hours across the board for everybody.
• Some periods of deferment will now count.
• You’ll get credit for administrative forbearance, but not a grace period.
• Your payment clock, whenever you consolidate, will not go to zero but will be the weighted average of the qualifying payments that you have.
• If you’re a contractor that works in a state where state law prohibits you from being employed by a non-profit institution (which is the case for a lot of doctors in Texas and California), you’ll now qualify.

   

3. President Biden’s federal student loan forgiveness plan includes $10k forgiven (up to $20k if you went to school on a Pell grant).
• Check to see who owns your student loan. The federal government doesn’t have the power to forgive privately owned loans.

Medical student loans still feel confusing? Send us your questions

We’re answering this question from a Money Meets Medicine listener:

“Once I refinance my student loans, how can I get student loan forgiveness if I change my mind?”

You’ll hear what we have to say about that.

Other questions answered:

• What are the new PSLF requirements and when do they take effect? 
• I missed the waiver that expired in October 2022. Am I really out of luck?
• I submitted my PSLF form, but still haven’t heard back yet. When will my payments be updated? 
• Can I get the $10,000 forgiveness and get PSLF? 
• Did the Biden administration make a change to the student loan forgiveness plan that excludes some borrowers from relief? 
• When should I consider refinancing my student loans?

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