If you’ve been getting emails about your student loans lately and feeling a mix of confusion and concern, you’re not alone. We recently talked with Jen, a public servant with 71 qualifying PSLF payments under her belt, earned over 7 years of service, who is in exactly this position. Her situation is a perfect example of what many public service workers are navigating right now, and what you can do about it.
Here’s the good news first: PSLF is active. Your 120-payment path to forgiveness is intact. However, there are two actions many borrowers need to take as soon as possible.
What Just Happened
On March 10, 2026, a court order officially ended the SAVE Plan (Saving on a Valuable Education). If you were enrolled in SAVE, you are likely now in what’s called administrative forbearance, meaning you’re temporarily not required to make payments while the government figures out your transition.
This sounds like a relief, but there are two catches. First, months spent in administrative forbearance do not count as qualifying PSLF payments. Every month since March that you haven’t been on a qualifying plan is a month that won’t count toward your 120. Second, is that interest has been accruing on the SAVE forbearance since August 1, 2025. So, time is of the essence. The upside is it’s very straightforward to get this sorted out.
Two Things To Do
1. Make Sure Your Loans Are Moved to MOHELA
MOHELA is the federal government’s designated primary servicer for PSLF. While the program itself is managed by the U.S. Department of Education, MOHELA handles the day-to-day servicing for PSLF borrowers. If you’re still at Aidvantage or another servicer, getting to MOHELA is an essential step to make sure your payments are being properly processed under the program.
Here’s how:
- Call MOHELA directly at 1-888-866-4352. Wait times can be long, block out a couple of hours, especially if you’re a teacher on summer break (great time to do this).
- Tell them: “I’m currently at Aidvantage, I have [X] qualifying PSLF payments, and I need to move my loans to MOHELA.”
- They will walk you through the transfer process, which typically involves filling out and submitting a form.
Important: Don’t stress about your payment count. Your qualifying payments are tracked by the federal government, not your servicer. Moving to MOHELA does not reset your count, Aidvantage was just the middleman collecting your money.
2. Get On a Qualifying Repayment Plan
Once you’re at MOHELA, you need to enroll in a qualifying income-driven repayment plan. Your options right now are:
- IBR — Income-Based Repayment (most widely available, the most common next step from SAVE)
- PAYE — Pay As You Earn (available to some borrowers with newer loans)
- ICR — Income Contingent Repayment
MOHELA should be able to help you enroll directly. Depending on your income, your payment may still be $0, but being enrolled in a qualifying plan is what makes those months count.
An Important Heads Up: Be Careful About Consolidation
If anyone, at MOHELA or anywhere else, suggests consolidating your loans, pause before you agree. Loan consolidation typically resets your PSLF qualifying payment count to zero.
If you’re at 50, 71, or 90+ payments, that’s a major reset.
The only exception: if you have older FFEL or Perkins Loans that aren’t yet Direct Loans, you may need to consolidate to make them PSLF-eligible. In that case, tell the rep: “I want to preserve my payment count” and confirm how consolidation will affect your PSLF progress before signing anything.
When in doubt, slow down and ask questions. This is worth getting right!
Check Your Status
While you wait on hold with MOHELA, take 2 minutes to check where you stand:
- Log in at studentaid.gov
- Go to My Loans → PSLF Payments
- You’ll see your current qualifying payment count and your projected forgiveness eligibility date
Also, check your repayment plan. If it says “Saving on a Valuable Education”, that’s the SAVE plan, and you need to switch.
What About Employer Certification?
Annual employer certification is what gets your payments officially counted. If your HR department (or whoever handles this at your organization) has recently submitted your certification form, you’re in good shape for the current period. If not, get that done through the PSLF Help Tool at studentaid.gov/pslf.
Submit it every year. Don’t rely on the government to prompt you.
The Bottom Line
Jen’s situation, 71 qualifying payments, loans at Aidvantage, enrolled in SAVE, is super common. The steps forward are clear:
- Call MOHELA and initiate the transfer from Aidvantage
- Enroll in IBR (or PAYE/ICR) once you’re there
- Don’t consolidate without fully understanding the impact on your payment count
- Certify your employment every year through the PSLF Help Tool
The PSLF program itself isn’t going anywhere. It has survived legal challenges before, when the American Federation of Teachers sued over improperly uncounted payments, borrowers won. The path to forgiveness is real. You just have to protect your place on it.
If you have questions or want to walk through your specific situation, reply to this post or book a call with us. This is our summer project, and it’s worth every minute. We got this! Let’s go!
Sources: MOHELA official announcements (mohela.studentaid.gov), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (consumerfinance.gov), NerdWallet PSLF Guide (updated May 2026)