Get on track for PSLF and certify every month you have earned
Loan types and servicer confirmed; non-qualifying loans consolidated so every future payment counts; the right income-driven plan selected; employment certified for every past qualifying period; the official payment count reconciled against your own records; and a dispute filed for every month the servicer miscounted.
Free preview: 3 of 16 steps
Work through them in the real run view, exactly as a buyer does. No account, no payment, nothing saved.
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Included with every copy
- Your own copy — keep it forever
- Gets better over time — free updates included
- Run it on web and mobile
- Invite a partner to go through it with you — you share the same progress
- Make it your own — a private copy you can edit to fit your situation
- The playbook's community — ask questions, get additions, and see how other buyers improve it, right on the step
Who it's for
Teachers, nurses, government and nonprofit employees carrying federal student debt who have been paying for years without confirming that a single month counts — and anyone with Direct Loans starting public-service work who wants counts on the record from month one.
About this playbook
This guide takes you from an unverified repayment history to a certified, reconciled PSLF payment count — without paying a consultant. You will confirm your loans and employer qualify, consolidate the loan types that silently disqualify people, move onto an income-driven plan where every payment counts, certify employment for every month you worked, and rebuild your own payment count to test the servicer's. Months the official count misses are handled one by one: a reconsideration request, an escalation to the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman, or — where the rules allow — a buyback. Everything is done yourself on StudentAid.gov, and every application in this guide is free. It does not cover private loans, getting out of default, or programs other than PSLF, and it works only within the program rules as they stand when you execute it, since PSLF rules have changed repeatedly, most recently around the SAVE plan.
What you'll do, step by stepFree preview
Only a sample is open: 3 of 16 steps can be read in full. The rest unlock when you buy.
Phase 1: Confirm your loans and employer qualify
4 stepsPhase 2: Fix the structure before it costs you months
4 stepsPhase 3: Certify every qualifying month
4 stepsPhase 4: Reconcile your payment count
4 steps
Details
What you need first
An FSA ID for StudentAid.gov (create one during the guide if needed), at least one federal student loan, current or past employment with a qualifying public-service employer, and loans that are not in active default — payments made in default never count, so resolve default before starting. Nothing in this guide costs money.
