Public Service Loan Forgiveness: Help Employees Achieve Their Financial Goals

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program can offer significant financial relief to higher ed employees, but many don’t know they qualify for this benefit. PSLF is open to most full-time higher ed employees of nonprofit colleges and universities who have direct federal student loans.

HR can spread the word to current employees and use loan forgiveness as part of a retention and recruitment strategy. The average amount of individual loan forgiveness under the PSLF is $70,000, which makes the PSLF an especially attractive benefit to potential employees.

Here’s what you need to know about who qualifies for PSLF, how to offer a free webinar on PSLF to your employees, and what steps you can take to ensure eligible employees enroll.

What is PSLF?

Public Service Loan Forgiveness forgives the balance of direct federal student loans after 120 qualifying payments made by the borrower if they work for a qualifying employer (after October 1, 2007) and are under a qualifying repayment plan. It’s intended to reward and incentivize public service, like teaching, nonprofit work and work in the public sector. PSLF eligibility isn’t about what job an employee does or what their job description is; it’s about where they work.

Who qualifies for PSLF?

Full-time employees of a nonprofit organization or a federal, state, tribal, or local government are eligible. Full-time work is defined as 30 hours or more per week. That means most full-time higher ed employees are eligible for PSLF, including those who may work part time at your institution but are also employed at other qualifying jobs (as is the case with many adjuncts). But the PSLF only applies to direct federal student loans. Borrowers with other federal student loans may be able to consolidate them into a direct federal student loan.

ASU employees:

ASU employees may be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. The PSLF program forgives the remaining balance on your direct loans after making a set amount of payments under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time for a qualifying employer.

If you believe you meet the requirements, fill out the PSLF Form.

• Employer Identification Number: 860196696.
• Employer name: Arizona State University.
• To complete the form with an electronic signature, use employer email address: hresc@asu.edu.
• To complete the form manually, complete Section 2 with your signature, then submit to Human Resources for processing.

https://csw.asu.edu/programs/professional-development/information

As we start the new academic year, we encourage everyone to take a moment and update their profile to make sure all items are current.  Profile information is housed in iSearch and pulls over to our website.  If you would like a new headshot, Career Services offers FREE headshots through their photo booth. https://career.eoss.asu.edu/channels/professional-headshot/

Follow these steps to update your profile:

MyASU > Profile

Click on edit profile and it will take you to iSearch to update your information.

The Barrett Recruiting and Admissions Team is excited to welcome Isabel Ewan!  Isabel was born and raised in Tempe, Arizona less than a mile from ASU’s campus. Her family are longtime Sun Devils, and she followed in their footsteps completing her degree in English Literature at ASU in fall 2022. Her most recent position was as a Library Media Technician at McClintock High School. Finding creative ways to promote student engagement through reading was the library’s goal, and Isabel was grateful to have had a part in it. Isabel loves reading science fiction and fantasy novels. She will watch any movie and probably enjoy it. She has a seven-year-old dog named Mickey who loves to explore Arizona as much as she does. Isabel is looking forward to making this academic year a great one!

Get a sneak peek at Workday

Attend a Workday Expo for live demonstrations and to ask questions about ASU's new HR and payroll system before it launches Dec. 23, 2024.

Grab some free swag and see Workday features in action, including:

• Benefits and pay.  
• Compensation.
• Payslips.
• Time-off requests.

Expos are free to attend; no registration is required. 

Dates and times: 

• Aug. 15: West Valley campus — 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., University Center Building, rooms 265/266
• Aug. 23: Polytechnic campus — 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Cooley Ballroom A.
• Aug. 27 and Aug. 28: Downtown Phoenix campus — 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Collaboratory on Central at the Westward Ho, Concho Room.
• Sept. 11: Tempe campus — 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., McCord Hall, Avnet Lounge.

Email the ASU Workday project team with questions or for more information. 

The Barrett Recruiting and Admission Team is excited to welcome Sebastian Montaño. Sebastian is a recent May 2024 graduate of ASU, Barrett the Honors College, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Astrophysics, along with a Mathematics minor. He is currently involved in part-time research on galactic evolution, collaborating closely with faculty members from the School of Earth and Space Exploration here at ASU. Beyond work and academia, Sebastian frequently finds himself at the gym or on an early morning run around Tempe Town Lake. One interesting fact about Sebastian is that his grandparents own a well-known Tucson staple, "La Estrella Bakery", which has been in business for nearly 40 years!

The ASU ID policy has been updated to include a Mobile ID. This change will start with new incoming ASU students, faculty and staff who will be issued their first ID in the fall 2024 semester.

Please review the details below about our transition to Mobile ID.

Mobile ID issuance:

• New students, faculty and staff to ASU for the fall 2024 semester will receive a Mobile ID accessible via the ASU Mobile App on compatible mobile devices.
• We will provide a physical card to individuals without a mobile-compatible device.

Current ID cardholders:

• Existing ASU ID cardholders will continue to use their card.
• We will offer existing cardholders the option to transition to Mobile ID later in the fall 2024 semester.

Please refer to the updated ASU ID Policy for more details. Review the list of acceptable identification on our webpage.

Thank you for your attention to this significant update. If you have any questions about this policy update or the transition to Mobile ID for incoming ASU community members, please email Sun Devil Card Services.

Please join the Barrett Business Operations as we welcome Caleb Zaffke to our team on Monday, July 29! Caleb’s responsibilities will include working with travelers to facilitate Trip Requests and expense reconciliations as well as processing and tracking purchase orders, expense reports/reimbursements, assisting with Lyft rides as needed, and supporting a variety of other internal financial activities. 

Caleb and his family were life-long Minnesotans who visited Arizona on many occasions. Last May, they decided to trade the long, frigid Minnesota winters for the desert life and all that Arizona has to offer! Caleb and his wife, Joscelyn, have two teenage sons and the family enjoys spending their time in a variety of fun activities as well as volunteering. After many years working in the financial services industry, Caleb spent the last 11 year working in the public sector for the accounting division at Itasca County.  “I look forward to bringing my skills and knowledge to ASU and learning much more from everyone I work with.”

We always welcome visitors to pop in to our office in Honors Hall 125 to say hello, and we’ll be working to arrange introductions as availability allows in the first few weeks. As of Monday, you can reach Caleb at his ASU email Caleb.Zaffke@asu.edu as well as at the Barrett Business Office email address,  barrettbusinessoffice@asu.edu