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PSLF Buyback calculator

Will buying back your SAVE forbearance months get you to forgiveness sooner than paying? Five numbers from your studentaid.gov account, and you’ll know.

By the SAVE Plan Deadline editorial team · Updated

Your PSLF numbers

All five are on your studentaid.gov account. Nothing you type leaves this page.

PSLF tracker on studentaid.gov: certified months of qualifying employment.

Same tracker: qualifying payments so far.

For most SAVE borrowers, July or August 2024.

When the forbearance ends for you: the first due date on your new plan.

$

On your new plan. Not sure? Use our calculator.

Already requested buyback, or expect a different review time?

About 88,000 requests were pending in April 2026.

Leave blank if you haven’t asked yet.

How the calculator works

  • You can only request buyback with 120 months of certified qualifying employment, and only for months when you were in deferment or forbearance while working for a qualifying employer.1
  • You must keep making your payments while your request is reviewed. Those payments count too, so with a long review you may reach 120 by paying before buyback is decided.1
  • You can only buy back the months you need to reach 120. The calculator works out the earliest request that finishes you, and compares it with simply paying.1
  • Reviews are slow. About 88,000 requests were pending on April 30, 2026; at that pace, estimates run 10 to 13 months, sometimes longer. The Department doesn’t publish a timeline.2

How the buyback amount is set

The law lets you get credit for those months by paying at least what you would have paid at the time on a qualifying plan, or nothing if your payment would have been $0.3 The Department’s current method:1

  • If the forbearance lasted less than a year and you were on an income-driven plan right before or after it, it uses the lower of those two payments.
  • If you enrolled in SAVE on or after July 18, 2024, it uses the income-driven plan you were on before SAVE.
  • Otherwise it asks for your tax return and family size for each calendar year, and uses the lowest income-driven payment you qualified for then, or the 10-year Standard payment if that is lower.
  • If you don’t send those documents within 30 days, it uses the 10-year Standard payment, which is usually much higher.

Watch out: once you get your buyback agreement, you have 90 days to pay it in full. Submitting a new PSLF form, consolidating, or paying off the loan after it’s sent voids the agreement, and anything you paid counts as a normal payment, without a refund.1

More on who qualifies and how to request PSLF Buyback.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an official PSLF Buyback calculator?

No. The Department of Education calculates your amount only after you request buyback, and reviews take months. This calculator estimates whether buyback finishes you sooner than paying.

Do I have to keep paying while my buyback request is reviewed?

Yes. Federal Student Aid says you must keep making your student loan payments until the review is complete and buyback is approved. Those payments count toward your 120.

When does PSLF Buyback not help?

When you would reach 120 qualifying payments by paying before your request is decided. With reviews of 10 months or more, that’s common for people who need only a few months.

Can I request buyback before I have 120 months of employment?

No. You need at least 120 months of certified qualifying employment before you can request buyback.

Sources

  1. Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Buyback Federal Student Aid (studentaid.gov) · Official source
  2. PSLF Buyback timeline: how long does it take (updated Sep 2, 2026) Tate Law
  3. 34 CFR 685.219: Public Service Loan Forgiveness, paragraph (g)(6) Code of Federal Regulations · Official source