PSLF Buyback Delays 2026: Current Wait Times and What to Do

What Is the PSLF Buyback Program?

The PSLF buyback program, established under the Department of Education's IDR adjustment (July 2022), lets borrowers who already have 120 months of qualifying employment purchase additional months that were previously excluded, such as months in deferment, forbearance, or grace periods, to reach the 120-payment threshold. Eligible months must have occurred while the borrower was employed full-time by a qualifying employer.

The program is not a general waiver. It targets borrowers who have already completed 120 months of work but whose payment history contains gaps that prevent certification. Borrowers must submit a buyback request through the PSLF Help Tool at StudentAid.gov, after which FSA verifies employment history and calculates the buyback amount, typically the same amount the borrower's income-driven repayment (IDR) plan would have charged.

The program is not available to borrowers who are already in repayment on a standard plan or who have already received forgiveness. It is also limited to months before the borrower reached 120 qualifying payments, so it cannot be used to accelerate forgiveness beyond the standard timeline.

For borrowers who have questions about employer qualification, it's important to verify before submitting a buyback request, as only qualifying employers count toward the 120-month total.

As of mid-2026, FSA has acknowledged processing delays of approximately 90 to 120 days for standard PSLF buyback requests. However, borrower reports on Reddit's r/PSLF and the FSA Ombudsman Group suggest the average is closer to 150 days, with a subset waiting eight months or longer.

The cause of the delays is multi-layered. First, the buyback program relies on manual verification of employment and payment history from the borrower's loan servicer, a process that becomes slower when borrowers have switched servicers during the COVID-19 payment pause (March 2020 through September 2023). Second, the IDR adjustment required servicers to recalculate counts for millions of borrowers, creating a backlog that has not fully cleared. Third, the transition of borrowers from FedLoan to MOHELA in 2022–2023 introduced data-transfer errors that now surface during buyback review.

Anecdotal evidence from the FSA Ombudsman quarterly reports (through Q1 2026) indicates that buyback-related complaints have accounted for roughly 8–10% of all casework since early 2025. The Ombudsman's office has urged borrowers to maintain documentation of all submitted employment certifications and payment histories.

For borrowers who are unsure how many payments they have, FSA provides a PSLF payment tracker on the StudentAid.gov dashboard.

1. Submit your buyback request via the PSLF Help Tool. Include all supporting employment certification forms (ECFs).
2. Wait for FSA to verify your employment history, this is the slowest step. Servicers must confirm each month's status.
3. Receive FSA's buyback offer, which includes the total dollar amount to purchase the months.
4. Pay the buyback amount via the FSA portal (credit card or bank transfer).
5. FSA certifies forgiveness after payment is processed, which takes an additional 30–60 days.

Each step can experience delays. Borrowers who submitted requests in January 2026 report receiving buyback offers in late April or May 2026, a wait of three to four months for step 3 alone.

Borrowers considering refinancing while pursuing PSLF should be cautioned: refinancing federal loans into private loans eliminates PSLF eligibility and the buyback option entirely.

A four- to six-month processing window means borrowers cannot count on buyback for an immediate forgiveness timeline. If you are within six months of reaching 120 payments, you may want to explore other options or adjust expectations.

First, continue making qualifying payments while you wait. Do not pause payments during the buyback process, if you stop making payments, you risk having those months not count toward the 120 total. The buyback option is designed to fill gaps, not replace ongoing payments.

Second, check your PSLF payment tracker regularly. FSA updated the tracker in late 2025 to show estimated dates for forgiveness, but it does not currently reflect buyback processing status. If you suspect a data error (e.g., missing payments from a previous servicer), contact the FSA Ombudsman directly.

Third, consider whether the PSLF waiver or IDR adjustment may already apply to some of the months you intend to buy back. The waiver ended October 31, 2022, but the IDR adjustment (which runs through 2024) automatically counts certain periods of forbearance and deferment toward PSLF, without requiring a buyback.

Borrowers who are already at 120 qualifying payments but waiting on forgiveness should understand the forgiveness timeline. FSA processes forgiveness in batches; after approval, it typically takes 30–60 days for the servicer to zero out the balance.

The biggest risk of the buyback program is that delays may push forgiveness past the date when the borrower would have received it through normal payments. If a borrower is at 118 payments and submits a buyback request for two missing months, they may still be waiting at the six-month mark, by which time two more months of regular payments would have brought them to 120 anyway.

Another risk: the buyback offer amount may be higher than expected. FSA calculates the buyback price based on the IDR plan payment the borrower would have been on during the missing months, not the payment they actually made. If the borrower was on a standard plan or had no payment at the time, FSA uses the standard 10-year repayment amount. This can result in a buyback of several thousand dollars.

For borrowers who are not close to 120 payments, the buyback program may not be worth the hassle. Instead, focus on maintaining qualifying employment and making consistent IDR payments. If you are considering alternatives to PSLF, such as industry-specific forgiveness programs, those may offer faster relief depending on your situation.

Expert Tips

• Document everything: save every PSLF Employment Certification Form and every payment confirmation.
• Set a calendar reminder to follow up with FSA every 60 days after submitting a buyback request.
• If you had a forbearance or deferment during March 2020–September 2023, check if it was automatically counted under the IDR adjustment before buying back.
• Use the FSA Ombudsman if your buyback request exceeds 180 days without a decision.
• Do not refinance federal loans during the buyback process, it cancels eligibility permanently.

Mistakes to Avoid

• Submitting a buyback request before verifying all 120 months of employment are documented.
• Assuming the buyback program works retroactively for all forbearance, only certain types qualify.
• Stopping payments while the buyback is processed, which can lengthen the overall timeline.
• Trusting the online PSLF tracker alone without manual verification of payment counts.

Pros and Cons

👍 Pros

• Fills gaps in payment history without starting over.
• Can lead to forgiveness for borrowers stuck at 119 or 118 payments.
• No new loan application or credit check required.

👎 Cons

• Long processing times, four to six months or more.
• Buyback cost can be several thousand dollars, especially if the missing months were on a standard plan.
• No guarantee of approval if employment history is incomplete.

Bottom Line

The PSLF buyback program is a useful option for borrowers who are one or two months shy of 120 qualifying payments and have the patience to wait. For borrowers needing forgiveness sooner or with longer gaps, the wait may not justify the cost. The IDR adjustment remains the faster path for many.