The most common thing we did in October wasn't lowering a payment or switching someone to a better plan. It was helping borrowers get official credit for work they'd already done. Public Service Loan Forgiveness counts your qualifying payments, but only the ones tied to employment you've certified. Years of work at a qualifying employer can sit invisible on your dashboard until someone helps you prove it. In October, more than half of our sessions were about exactly that.
Sign up for a free consultation
October by the Numbers
- Customer satisfaction: 100%
- Average monthly payment reduction (when we could lower it): $650/month (range: $500–$800)
- Average projected forgiveness: $169,179 (range: $15,000–$575,000)
- Average timeline to forgiveness shortened (when we could shorten it): 46 months (range: 9–100 months)
But the numbers only tell part of the story.
The Credit Was Already There
For a lot of borrowers, the path to forgiveness isn't about making more payments. It's about proving the ones they've already made. A few examples from October, shared anonymously:
- One borrower learned that 35 payments she made years ago, while working at the Social Security Administration, count toward PSLF across all of her loans, not just her undergraduate debt. Combined with a buyback for other months, she's now projected for $575,000 in forgiveness.
- Another discovered 39 qualifying payments that had never been counted. Adding them is part of a path to roughly $350,000.
- A third had a past employer that once reported them as less than full-time, which would have quietly erased those years of credit. We got it corrected and the certifications submitted.
None of these borrowers needed to start over. They needed someone to help them document what they'd already earned.
Real Borrowers, Real Results
Shannon W., District Medical Group
Shannon came in confused about why some of her loans showed fewer PSLF credits than others, a common and maddening quirk of how federal loans are tracked. We walked her through why, and showed her how and when to recertify her PAYE plan in 2027 to protect her standing. She's projected for $225,000 in forgiveness.
In her words:
"A great resource that shows you care about your employees and their financial well-being. Especially helpful in the current day where PSLF and loan programs change by the day."
Christopher O., who works for the VA
Christopher is a public servant whose loans had fallen into default, the situation most people assume ends any shot at forgiveness. Instead, we mapped a strategy using both loan rehabilitation and consolidation to get him back on track and maximize his PSLF credit, shortening his timeline and putting him on a path to roughly $225,000 in forgiveness.
In his words:
"Kevin was very relatable and answered all of my questions. He also spoke about different options, not just a single path to debt relief."
A Checkbox Worth Thousands
Two borrowers in October learned that one decision, how they file their taxes, was quietly costing them. Switching from married filing jointly to married filing separately significantly lowered their monthly payment and increased their projected forgiveness. For one, it was worth about $800 a month. That is the kind of lever most people never know to pull, and exactly the kind a coach is there to find.
Why This Work Matters
Student loans are confusing by design right now. The rules keep changing, credit you've earned can go uncounted, and a single misreported employment record can erase years of progress. What we see month after month is that forgiveness is rarely as far off as it feels. Often the work is already done. It just hasn't been proven yet.
Take the First Step
If you work in public service, or you've ever wondered whether your past jobs count toward forgiveness, you may be further along than your dashboard shows. Sign up for a free consultation to see where you stand.
And if you're part of a nonprofit collaborative or school purchasing consortium, mention it, you may be eligible for discounted services.
Because clarity changes everything.
