PSLF Buyback Lawsuit 2026: What It Means for Your Count and Your Path to 120

Short answer: On October 30, 2026, the American Federation of Teachers and nine borrowers filed a proposed class action saying the Education Department has let PSLF Buyback requests sit for months, removed PSLF months it had already credited, and stopped posting some recent qualifying payments. The case doesn't change the Buyback rules. If you've already put in ten years of public service, your months are still yours to line up, and the steps below keep your account moving while the court does its part.

Last updated: November 2, 2026. Checked against the complaint in Weingarten v. U.S. Department of Education (No. 1:26-cv-03826), StudentAid.gov's PSLF Buyback page and its SAVE plan FAQ.

Key dates at a glance:

• November 1, 2022: the Department finalized the PSLF rule changes that created Buyback.
• June to July 2024: SAVE borrowers were moved into the SAVE forbearance. Those months don't count toward PSLF on their own, but they can be bought back.
• April 30, 2026: about 88,000 Buyback requests were pending, according to the Department's own status report as cited in the complaint.
• August 2026: the complaint says the Department began correcting PSLF counts, citing "coding errors," and borrowers started getting "Qualifying Payment Reduction Update" notices.
• October 30, 2026: the class action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
• November 2, 2026: no court ruling had been reported.

What the lawsuit says

The case is Weingarten v. U.S. Department of Education, No. 1:26-cv-03826, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The AFT's announcement calls it Weingarten v. McMahon, after Education Secretary Linda McMahon, the other defendant. The plaintiffs are AFT President Randi Weingarten and nine individual borrowers. Berger Montague and Protect Borrowers represent them.

The complaint makes three main points.

1. Buyback requests are piling up. It says pending Buyback requests nearly doubled between April 2025 and March 2026, from 49,318 to 89,720, while the Department decided roughly 1,472 a month. In April 2026, the Department decided 6,870 requests and received 4,790. About 88,000 were still pending at the end of April.

2. Some PSLF counts went down. Starting in August 2026, the complaint says, the Department began correcting the counts shown in borrowers' accounts. It said the corrections fixed "coding errors" but didn't explain them. Some borrowers got "Qualifying Payment Reduction Update" notices.

3. Some recent months aren't posting. The complaint says the Department stopped updating the qualifying-payment count for at least some borrowers, so recent payment periods don't show up in the PSLF tracker.

What it asks for: a declaration that the Department violated the Administrative Procedure Act and borrowers' due process rights, and a court order requiring it to process Buyback applications on time, restore months that were taken back, credit payments borrowers made, and discharge the loans of borrowers who have met every PSLF requirement. It doesn't seek money damages beyond attorneys' fees.

The proposed classes, in the complaint's words (shortened):

• PSLF Buyback Class: borrowers who have met the public service requirements of PSLF and submitted a Buyback application that the Department hasn't processed within 90 days.
• PSLF Clawback Class: borrowers who had credited months removed and who would have reached 120 qualifying payments without that removal.
• PSLF Qualifying Payments Withholding Class: borrowers whose withheld months would count as their 120th payment or as the months they need to request Buyback.

The court hasn't certified a class or ruled on the claims. According to the complaint, the Department has described the count changes as fixes to earlier coding errors.

How PSLF Buyback works

PSLF discharges the remaining balance on your Direct Loans after 120 qualifying monthly payments made while you work full time for a qualifying employer. Months in most deferments and forbearances don't count as payments. Buyback, created in the 2022 rule (the Department first called it "hold harmless"), lets you pay for some of those months now so they count.

StudentAid.gov sets it up this way:

• You need 120 months of certified qualifying employment first. Buyback is only available once your employment already adds up to 120 months, and you have no plans to certify more.
• The months have to line up with that employment. You can only buy back a month that falls inside your approved qualifying employment.
• You need a Direct Loan with a balance. Paid-off, forgiven or discharged loans don't qualify, and FFEL or Perkins loans have to be in a Direct Consolidation Loan first.
• You request it through PSLF Reconsideration. In your StudentAid.gov account, you choose "PSLF Buyback" as the reconsideration type and confirm that you have 120 months of qualifying employment. Any uncertified employment gets certified first with a PSLF form through the PSLF Help Tool. Our guide to the PSLF employer form covers that step.
• You get an automated confirmation email. StudentAid.gov says you can't check the status online, and the Department replies by email.
• If you're eligible, you get a Buyback agreement. The Department or your servicer sends it with the amount due, and the full amount has to reach your servicer within 90 days of the agreement date. You can pay in more than one payment.

Two details that surprise people. First, you keep making your regular payments while the request is pending and during the 90-day window. Second, the agreement is voided if you submit a new PSLF form, pay off the loan, consolidate, or have the loan discharged after it's sent. If that happens, payments you made toward it are credited as regular payments instead of refunded.

Which months you can buy back

This is where most of the value sits, especially for former SAVE borrowers.

Months that can be bought back (on Direct Loans with a positive balance, during qualifying employment):

• Months in deferment.
• Months in forbearance, including the SAVE forbearance. StudentAid.gov's SAVE FAQ says those months don't count toward PSLF on their own but can be bought back once you have 120 months of qualifying employment.
• Deferment or forbearance months after the first disbursement of a Direct Consolidation Loan.

Months that can't be bought back:

• In-school, in-grace, default, bankruptcy and disability monitoring periods.
• Months on a loan while it was in the Repayment Assistance Plan or the Tiered Standard Plan.
• Months on loans that were later included in a consolidation loan. Buyback works only on the current consolidation loan, from its first disbursement date.

You can go back as far as October 2007, when PSLF began, or to the first disbursement of your Direct Consolidation Loan if that's later. You can only buy back the months you need to reach 120. Buying back earlier months to get a refund on later payments isn't allowed.

If you were moved from SAVE into Standard and are weighing a new plan, our pages on being placed in the Standard plan after SAVE and on what happens if you missed the SAVE plan deadline show how the plan you're in now affects the months ahead.

How the Buyback amount is set, with a hypothetical example

StudentAid.gov says the amount is what you likely would have paid during those months:

• If you were on an income-driven plan right before or after the gap and the gap was less than a year, it uses the lower of those two monthly income-driven payments.
• If you were in SAVE on or after July 18, 2024, it uses the income-driven plan you were in right before you enrolled in SAVE.
• If you weren't on an income-driven plan around the gap, the Department asks for your tax information (or a statement that you didn't have to file) and your family size for that year. It uses the lowest income-driven amount you were eligible for then, or the 10-year Standard amount if that's lower.
• If you don't send the tax and family information within 30 days, it uses the 10-year Standard amount.
• Parent PLUS loans that haven't been consolidated use the 10-year Standard amount.
• If the amount works out to $0, the Department proceeds with the discharge when it sends the agreement, since nothing is due.

Hypothetical example (for illustration only): Dana is a public school counselor who has worked for school districts since 2016. Her employment is certified through PSLF forms and adds up to 120 months. Her tracker shows 111 qualifying payments. The nine missing months came from the SAVE forbearance in late 2024 and early 2025. Before she switched to SAVE, she was on Income-Based Repayment at $210 a month. Using StudentAid.gov's rules, the Buyback amount would be based on that IBR payment: 9 × $210 = $1,890, due within 90 days of her agreement. Once the bought-back months post, she reaches 120, and her remaining Direct Loan balance goes to PSLF discharge review. Dana isn't a real borrower. The actual amount is set by the Department in the agreement.

Now picture Dana's request sitting unanswered since spring. She keeps paying her regular bill each month and checks her email. The payments she makes while she waits will be refunded only after discharge, and only if she has no other outstanding loans. That gap is what the lawsuit is about, and it's why it pays to get every other part of her account in order now.

If your PSLF count went down or stopped updating

The lawsuit's second and third claims are about counts, and these are worth checking even if you never asked for Buyback.

• Compare month by month. Pull up the PSLF tracker in your StudentAid.gov account. Each payment period shows as qualifying or ineligible. Compare it with your own records: pay stubs, employer certification dates and servicer statements.
• Keep the notice. If you got a "Qualifying Payment Reduction Update," save it with the date. Note which months changed and what they showed before.
• Look for gaps at the end. If payments since mid-2026 aren't showing, write down each payment you made and its date. The complaint describes recent periods that weren't added.
• Keep certifying employment. StudentAid.gov recommends submitting a PSLF form every year and when you change jobs. Just don't send a new form after a Buyback agreement arrives, because that voids the agreement.
• Ask about status the right way. StudentAid.gov says to contact your servicer about a Buyback agreement if your loans are with Aidvantage (Maximus), CRI, Edfinancial or Nelnet. If MOHELA services your loans, it says to contact Federal Student Aid directly.

The PSLF hub explains how payments and plans count, and our page on the PSLF employer rule in court covers the separate employer-eligibility case.

What to do next while the case moves forward

You've already put in the years. These steps keep your account ready, so you're positioned for a quick answer from the Department, whatever the court decides.

• Confirm your 120 months of employment are certified. If any employer period is still missing, that's the first thing to fix. Without it, a Buyback request can't move.
• Know your number. Count how many months you need to reach 120 and which deferment or forbearance months could fill the gap. That's the heart of the request.
• Pick a plan that keeps counting. Months in Tiered Standard or RAP can't be bought back later, and Tiered Standard payments don't count toward PSLF at all. Choosing an income-driven plan that counts keeps future months working for you. Our RAP explainer and IBR vs RAP comparison can help.
• Hold off on consolidating mid-request. Consolidating after the agreement is sent voids it. StudentAid.gov does say you can consolidate after you buy back.
• Keep paying on schedule. Regular payments are required during review, and amounts above the agreement can be refunded after discharge if you have no other outstanding loans.
• Get a second set of eyes. A free review call with a specialist can go through your employment dates, your tracker and your plan, and help you see whether Buyback, a plan change or both fit your situation.
• Follow the case. Class certification and any order on the claims will shape what the Department has to do next. This page is updated as the case develops.

What to have ready before you call

• Your employers and dates since you started public service, and which ones are already certified
• A screenshot or printout of your PSLF tracker showing the qualifying and ineligible months
• Your Buyback confirmation email and the date you sent the request, if you've applied
• Any "Qualifying Payment Reduction Update" notice
• Your servicer (Aidvantage, CRI, Edfinancial, MOHELA or Nelnet) and your current repayment plan
• If the gap was before an income-driven plan, your tax return and family size for those years

Related: the PSLF hub, placed in the Standard plan after SAVE, PSLF requirements for teachers, PSLF for nurses and student loan forgiveness programs.

Frequently asked questions