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How this is calculated

Inputs

  • Federal student-loan balance and average interest rate
  • Household income (AGI), household size, dependent children
  • Qualifying payments already made (0–120)
  • Plan: IBR-style (10% of discretionary income) or RAP

Assumptions

  • Income and household size stay constant to payment 120; 2026 HHS poverty guidelines
  • IBR-style: payment is 10% of discretionary income (AGI minus 150% of the poverty guideline)
  • RAP: 1–10% of AGI by income band, $50 a month off per dependent child, $10 minimum; unpaid interest waived and up to $50 a month of principal matched
  • Every remaining month is a qualifying month at a qualifying employer

Formula

Project the balance month by month at your rate under the plan’s payment rule until the 120th qualifying payment, then read off what is left. Forgiven amount = projected balance at payment 120.

Result

An estimate of the balance PSLF would forgive at payment 120, federally tax-free, and the total you would pay to get there. It is arithmetic on the numbers you typed, not a count of your actual qualifying payments.

What isn’t included

  • Whether your employer or loans qualify (the Guardian checks that; the calculator assumes yes)
  • Income growth, marriage, or a plan switch before payment 120
  • State tax treatment of the forgiven balance
  • Buyback of forbearance months, and interest capitalization events

Source and rule year

Rule year 2026 · figures and formulas re-verified September 2026 by Jonathan Shafer, DO · studentaid.gov — PSLF · HHS poverty guidelines · Pub. L. 119-21 (RAP) · how our numbers are sourced. Education, not advice.

PSLF questions physicians ask

How does PSLF forgiveness work?

Public Service Loan Forgiveness cancels the remaining balance on your federal Direct Loans after 120 qualifying monthly payments made while employed full-time by a qualifying employer — a government organization or an eligible nonprofit. The 120 payments do not need to be consecutive, and the forgiven balance is not taxed as federal income.

What counts as a qualifying payment?

A qualifying payment is a month where three things line up at once: you were on a qualifying repayment plan (an income-driven plan for almost all physicians), you were employed full-time by an eligible employer, and the payment was made on time for the full billed amount. A $0 income-driven payment during residency counts exactly the same as an attending-sized payment — which is why PSLF is most valuable when you certify employment starting in training.

Do months in forbearance count toward PSLF?

Generally no. Months spent in forbearance or deferment make no PSLF progress on their own even though interest may accrue, which is why a $0 income-driven payment is almost always better than forbearance during training. Once you have 120 months of qualifying employment, the PSLF buyback lets you pay what an income-driven plan would have charged for months spent in deferment or forbearance — the SAVE forbearance included — and have them count; the request goes through PSLF Reconsideration at studentaid.gov, so ask before assuming a month is lost. Reviewing your payment history for non-counting months is one of the most common ways physicians find errors in their count.

Is PSLF forgiveness taxable?

No — balances forgiven through PSLF are not treated as taxable income at the federal level, unlike forgiveness at the end of a 20- or 25-year income-driven repayment term. That difference is why the tax-free amount this calculator estimates can be worth six figures for physicians with large balances and long training.

Does my hospital employer qualify for PSLF?

Government employers and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations qualify — which includes most academic medical centers and many community hospital systems, but not most private practices. What matters is who employs you, not where you work: a physician staffed at a nonprofit hospital by a for-profit group generally does not qualify. Certify your employer with the official PSLF form rather than assuming.