TO: Sonoma State Faculty and Staff
FR: Payroll and Benefits
As a California State University (CSU) employee, please be aware that you may qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)—a federal program created for those in public service jobs which offers employees of (1) government, not-for-profit organizations and (2) private not-for-profit organizations that provide certain public services the opportunity to have their federal loan balances forgiven after 120 qualifying monthly payments.
The CSU is a qualified employer for the PSLF program and many full-time CSU employees may therefore be eligible to certify employment and receive credit for payments made toward forgiveness. This program has been available to qualified individuals since 2007. However, for a limited period of time, borrowers may receive credit for past repayments that would not otherwise qualify for PSLF.
The Department of Education (DOE) announced a set of actions that temporarily expands the types of repayments that can be counted towards loan forgiveness and will help more people take advantage of the PSLF program including a time-limited waiver so that student borrowers can count payments from all federal loan programs or repayment plans toward forgiveness. The waiver will run through October 31, 2022 and can be accessed through the online PSLF Help Tool. To meet the October 31, 2022 waiver deadline, employees must submit their PSLF employer certification request to Payroll and Benefits as soon as possible. We recommend submission no later than Friday, October 7, 2022 to ensure timely processing of your request so you can meet the DOE’s October 31 deadline.
Employees can find more details on StudentAid.gov/pslfwaiver. Additional information regarding the campus’ role in completing the employer certification for borrowers is available on the Payroll and Benefits website.
To assist employees with questions related to these temporary changes, our local Patelco Credit Union branch is hosting a webinar for Sonoma State employees (need not be a Patelco member). The webinar will be held on Wednesday, October 5, 2022 from 12 pm - 1 pm. Registration is not required, just click on the Zoom invite at the designated time.
If you have any additional questions, contact Payroll and Benefits at payroll@sonoma.edu or 4-2793.