A Student Loan Forgiveness Tool from Savi

The federal government has a program specifically for people who work for nonprofit, government or public sector employers. If you work for one of these employers, have direct loans, and make 120 monthly on-time payments while with a public service employer, you may be eligible to have your remaining federal student loan debt forgiven tax-free. 

Entering into PSLF or another forgiveness program requires a commitment to see it through to the end. Switching to an income-driven repayment plan (required if you are working toward PSLF) may actually cause your student debt to increase over time, which can be problematic unless you get forgiveness at the end. If you know you will not be working full-time for a qualifying nonprofit or public sector entity for at least 120 months, then the PSLF may not be the right path for you. Individuals may want to consult their personal tax or legal adviser before making any decisions regarding the status of their student loans.

TIAA has joined forces with Savi, a social impact technology company, to help CU faculty, staff and their immediate families navigate federal student loan programs. Their student loan solution will help you identify eligibility for federal income-driven repayment plans and forgiveness programs designed specifically for people who work at eligible public interest employers — that is, at a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit school, university or hospital; in government or approved governmental entities; or at a few other public interest organizations.

The Savi service is designed to make that process easier, if you are eligible and applying.

Savi was started as a social-impact public benefit company. The people behind it are student loan experts, advocates and borrowers who have been fighting for many years to improve the student loan system.

Savi realized that the more than 44 million student loan borrowers needed better and more personalized information about how to manage and repay their debt. Savi helps people navigate the valuable but complicated federal programs available to people who work in public service. TIAA has a minority ownership interest in Savi.

As of April 2024, CU faculty and staff enrolled in Savi users saw average projected savings of $1,896 per year.

There are two service tiers available to borrowers. 

1. A free calculator to assess their situation and get guidance on the best options available.
2. For a $74 annual fee, you can enroll in Savi’s Essential service. Savi will administer the program’s ongoing paperwork requirements including annual reenrollment, employer certifications, and filing for PSLF credits with the U.S. Department of Education. This service helps borrowers avoid common and not-so-common errors and to stay in compliance with exacting rules. 

Go to TIAA.org/cu/student and follow the path to explore your federal forgiveness options. You’ll need three things to use Savi effectively:

1. Your Social Security number (format: 123-45-6789)
2. The first page of your most recent tax transcript* or tax return
   ​*A tax transcript is a summary of your recent tax filings that can be requested from the IRS (Internal Revenue Service). Each transcript includes important information for applying to new student loan repayment plans, such as your filing status, adjusted gross income (AGI), wages, and more. You can request a copy of a tax transcript in about 5 minutes by visiting the IRS website.
3. Logins to any loan servicers (e.g., Navient, Nelnet, Great Lakes)
   Your login information includes username or email, password, and anything else required to log into your student loan servicer’s website. Your student loan servicer website is the place you go to make payments on your student loans. This information will be used to import your student loan details into Savi during the account setup process.

Any PSLF plan includes an income-driven repayment plan. These are repayment plans that take into account your income, student debt and personal situation, and may result in lower monthly payments. The plans that qualify you for PSLF include IBR, ICR, PAYE and REPAYE.

The standard repayment plan technically qualifies as well, but since this plan spans only 10 years, you wouldn’t have any balance left to forgive after 120 qualifying monthly payments.

Student debt you’ve incurred on behalf of children (Parent PLUS loans) may qualify for relief. You may need to first consolidate them to Direct Consolidation loans—the Savi tool will help steer you in the right direction.

To be eligible for forgiveness, you must be a full-time employee of an eligible public interest employer—that is, at a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit school, university or hospital; in government or approved governmental entities; or at a few other public interest organizations. The University of Colorado is considered a public service employer for the purpose of this program.

You need to recertify your income annually, but if your income decreases at any point or you added a dependent (or even become pregnant), you can submit IDR paperwork to have your payment recalculated immediately to attempt to lower your monthly payments.

No. Once you're a registered user on Savi's website, you can try out the free tool first, and decide later if you’d like to take advantage of the optional administrative services available in the Savi Essential service. Each year you will be asked if you want to continue with the service and pay the annual fee or not.

You must work at least 30 hours a week. Please note, if you work more than one job at a qualifying employer, total hours should equal 30 or greater.

You are currently paying off William D. Ford Federal Direct Loans.

• To qualify for loan forgiveness, you may consolidate non-direct loans into a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan.
• Perkins Loans and Pell Grants do not qualify. If you consolidate your Direct Loans with these federal loans, you will no longer qualify.

You must enroll in either of the following repayment plans:

• Income-driven repayment plan
• 10-year standard repayment plan

According to the Federal Student Aid website, a qualifying monthly payment is a payment that you make:

• after October 1, 2007;
• under a qualifying repayment plan;
• for the full amount due as shown on your bill;
• no later than 15 days after your due date; and
• while you are employed full-time by a qualifying employer.

You can make qualifying monthly payments only during periods when you are required to make a payment. Therefore, you cannot make a qualifying monthly payment while your loans are in:

• an in-school status,
• the grace period,
• a deferment,
• a forbearance, or
• default.