How to Handle Your Student Loans When You Apply for PSLF Buyback

Thousands of student loan borrowers continue to face substantial backlogs and delays when applying for PSLF Buyback.The PSLF Buyback program is a relatively new offshoot of Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) that gives borrowers an additional pathway to loan discharge by allowing them to “buy back” certain past periods of deferment and forbearance that didn’t count toward loan forgiveness because they weren’t in a repayment status.But many borrowers face months, and in some cases years, of processing delays when they apply.In spring 2026, the Education Department reported that roughly 88,000 PSLF Buyback applications remained stuck in a backlog.

While there are some signs that the backlog has leveled off a bit, the department hasn’t released any new data since May 2026, so it’s unclear whether there’s been any substantial progress.In the meantime, student loan borrowers routinely report having to wait one or two years, and sometimes longer, for a decision on their application.  Navigating these significant delays can be challenging for student loan borrowers, and any option is potentially fraught.But here’s what to consider if you’re applying for student loan forgiveness through PSLF Buyback.How PSLF Buyback works PSLF Buyback gives borrowers the opportunity to get retroactive PSLF credit for periods when they weren’t making payments on their student loans due to a deferment or forbearance.

Borrowers can apply for PSLF Buyback once they have at least 10 years of qualifying public service employment, and the months subject to buyback would allow them to reach their 120th qualifying payment required to achieve loan forgiveness under PSLF.  “You can buy back months that don’t count as qualifying payments because you were in an ineligible deferment or forbearance status,” explains the Education Department on its PSLF Buyback website.“You can buy back these months only if you weren’t enrolled in either the Repayment Assistance Plan or the Tiered Standard Plan during the month(s) you want to buy back, you still have an outstanding balance on your loan(s), and you have approved qualifying employment for these same months.” If approved, borrowers would have to make a payment equivalent to what they would have paid during the bought-back period if they had been in repayment under a qualifying repayment plan, usually based on their income.The Education Department would give the borrower a 90-day window to submit the payment.“You must make an extra payment of at least as much as what you would have made under an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan during the months you’re trying to buy back,” says the Education Department.

“The amount required will be based on your income and family size at the time of the deferment or forbearance, not your current income and family size.” Payments continue to be due on student loans after applying for PSLF Buyback But after a borrower applies for student loan forgiveness through PSLF Buyback, payments continue to be due on their loans.And the Education Department indicates that borrowers must continue to make their regular monthly payments while they wait for a decision on their PSLF Buyback request.“You must continue to make student loan payments until review is complete and buyback is approved,” says the Education Department in its online PSLF Buyback guidance.“You are still responsible for your current student loan payment.” This can be a major complication for borrowers due to the significant ongoing PSLF Buyback processing backlogs.

Borrowers are not entitled to any sort of automatic administrative forbearance that suspends payments on their student loans while they wait for a PSLF Buyback decision.That means borrowers can face a difficult decision about how to proceed after applying.Borrowers can continue to pay their student loans while waiting for PSLF Buyback One option is for borrowers to simply continue to pay their student loans each month, as required, while waiting for the Education Department to issue a decision on their PSLF Buyback application.Ignoring the payments would not be a good option, as that would lead to delinquency and eventually default, which would cause credit damage and could prevent a borrower from even qualifying for student loan forgiveness.

Defaulted federal student loans are not eligible for PSLF Buyback.Given the substantial wait times associated with the PSLF Buyback backlog, some borrowers may wind up reaching the 120th qualifying PSLF payment through regular repayment before they even hear back on their buyback application.But the potential downside of continuing to make payments is that if the additional payments wind up costing more overall than what the borrower would pay through PSLF Buyback (which is possible if a borrower’s income has increased since the buyback period), the total cost of student loan forgiveness may be higher overall.And while borrowers are generally entitled to a refund of any payments made in excess of the 120 qualifying payments required for PSLF, they are not entitled to a refund of the difference between the total cost of those payments and what the projected buyback amount would have been.

“You can’t receive a refund unless your payment exceeds the amount identified in the PSLF Buyback Agreement and you have no other additional outstanding loans,” says the Education Department.Nevertheless, continuing to make regular payments while waiting for PSLF Buyback could be a prudent move for borrowers who don’t want to wait indefinitely for a response from the Education Department; don’t want to pause progress toward loan forgiveness under PSLF; or are considering leaving public service employment or otherwise don’t want to rely exclusively on PSLF Buyback for relief, given the substantial problems and uncertainty associated with the program.Borrowers Can Put Their Student Loans into Forbearance While Waiting for PSLF Buyback Alternatively, borrowers can potentially put their student loans into a forbearance status while they wait for a decision on their PSLF Buyback request.That would temporarily suspend their student loan payments during the forbearance period.

As noted, there is no right to an automatic administrative forbearance for pending PSLF Buyback applications.But borrowers can potentially tap into their general forbearance while they wait.The benefit of going into forbearance is that it keeps the federal student loans in good standing (and therefore eligible for PSLF) while pausing or postponing payments.If the borrower is approved for buyback, all they would have to do is then pay the amount identified in the Education Department’s PSLF Buyback offer letter within the 90-day window, and they should be able to get their student loans forgiven.

But there are potential downsides to going into a general forbearance.First, borrowers don’t have unlimited forbearance options available.Most borrowers have a maximum of 36 months of general or hardship forbearance available over the repayment term of any given federal student loan.While that’s a lot, it’s not uncommon for borrowers to use portions of that allotted forbearance from time to time, diminishing the number of forbearance months that remain.

Since there is no way to know how long the wait will be for PSLF Buyback, there is a chance that a borrower could run out of available forbearance before they’ve heard back from the Education Department on their buyback eligibility, which could put them in a tough position and may force them to abruptly restart repayment again.There are other potential downsides, as well.Interest continues to accrue during the forbearance period, which can cause significant balance growth over time.And if a borrower’s PSLF Buyback application is ultimately denied, the forbearance period won’t have counted toward PSLF, setting the borrower even further back from qualifying for loan forgiveness.

Furthermore, general forbearances are provided only at the discretion of student loan servicers; while loan servicers historically have granted forbearance requests as long as the borrower has sufficient forbearance available, borrowers could find themselves in a difficult spot if they need to extend a forbearance but are unable to do so after a loan servicer denies their request.How to decide between paying and forbearance during the backlog Ultimately, borrowers who are seeking student loan forgiveness through PSLF Buyback have some tough choices to make given the substantial backlog of applications and delayed processing.When considering whether to continue making regular qualifying PSLF payments while they wait, or requesting a forbearance instead, borrowers will need to weigh the pros and cons and factor in their own unique circumstances to make a decision that best aligns with their goals.