PSLF Question

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BMcGillivary42

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Do years spent working on a graduate degree as part of a combined residency/PhD program count towards the ten years required for PSLF?

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Do years spent working on a graduate degree as part of a combined residency/PhD program count towards the ten years required for PSLF?
It would depend on a couple things. One is whether your loans are in deferment during that time, which is the default when you're a student, and is what some people choose to do during residencies as well. If they're in deferment, payments you make won't count towards the 120 for PSLF.

The other thing it will depend on is how your university classifies you. If you are classified as an employee, then great. As long as you're at a public/state university or private non-profit, then it should count as qualified employment. But some schools classify their residents as students (and many classify their PhD students as such, even though they are employed), so that is where you may run into an issue.


Take this all with a grain of salt though, it's a complex enough thing that I would be inclined to double check with a more authoritative source :)
 
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I’m not any more authorative than WZ but that’s my understanding too. The vast majority of residents at my residency institution were classified as employees and would qualify if they wanted to pursue the years for PSLF, but I did hear through the grapevine there were a few in PhDs who were classified as students/“in school” so they were never sent into repayment and they had to sort it out to qualify. It would be a great question to ask anywhere you apply to make sure you go in with the right expectations and aren’t surprised later on.
 
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My older sister has a PhD and she said in grad school she was classified as an employee but not a full-time employee. To qualify for PLSF, in which she is currently enrolled, you have to be a full-time employee. Another consideration, as mentioned above, is your classification as a student. In order to have qualifying months/time toward PSLF, you also have to be making full (based on your repayment plan) payments. Most people would defer those payments while in school. If you have other questions, I can definitely ask her based on her experience.
 
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