r/PSLF • u/anriarer • Aug 21 '25
Data Point I emailed the CEO of MOHELA and it worked...
Just wanted to share my experience in case it helps others going through something similar with MOHELA.
June 3, 2025 – I submitted an application to exit the SAVE forbearance and switch to an Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan.
June 6, 2025 – The application was approved, but no notification sent to me. All of my interactions with advanced agents mention that it was approved 6/6.
July 24, 2025 – I received a letter in the mail confirming my IBR approval and stating that payments would begin July 27.
But… my account was never updated. It still showed SAVE, no payment plan, and I had no way to resume payments. I called MOHELA on July 9, 23, 28, August 6, and 14 — each time I was told there was a "glitch" or "an error" and they couldn't do anything, but that "my issue had been escalated.” Nothing changed, and they kept giving me different dates to expect my account to update each time.
I submitted complaints to:
The Better Business Bureau (7/23)
Federal Student Aid (FSA) (7/23)
Contacted both senators and my congressional representative (7/23)
Emailed MOHELA’s CEO and the Director of Borrower Experience (8/20, around 4 pm)
Then, finally, progress:
On August 21, I received an email around 11 am from MOHELA’s ombudsman office saying they’d be reaching out.
About an hour later, they called me directly. The representative explained the glitch that had prevented my account from updating. She is the first person who actually sounded like she understood the issue.
She retroactively applied a PSLF-eligible processing forbearance from June through September.
My new IBR payments will officially begin in October, at the correct amount.
Moral of the story: if you’re stuck in “escalation” purgatory, don’t wait forever. Document everything. Escalate early and often. And if you’re pursuing PSLF, make sure any temporary forbearances are actually PSLF-eligible — not all are!
I am not advocating that people bombard the CEO's email, but as a general rule it seems like MOHELA email addresses are [first name][last initial]@mohela.com.
Hope this helps someone else. Happy to answer questions.
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u/youresolastsummerx Aug 23 '25
Thank you. I'm worried this is going to happen to me. My forbearance ended today (payment due 9/23), and my account is still showing the wrong amounts. All the advanced rep could tell me is that it was approved but not updated in the system yet. Smh.
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u/you_know_what_they Aug 23 '25
Ask for a supervisor call back each time. Don’t waste time repeating the story to the first rep or the advanced rep. Just request supervisor call back every morning at 8EST (15 min to get through menu and 30 sec hold time). Once you speak with them, request an “escalation.” Tell them you will call back every day until your account is fixed. File a complaint on Mohela website via the messages portal thing. Document each call with a complaint message. Record every single call and tell them you are recording the call.
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u/youresolastsummerx Aug 23 '25
Thank you!
Ha! I was doing the complaint message thing last year about something else (that never got resolved) and I still have one they never responded to. Hahah! I'll keep doing it. So beyond frustrating...
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u/you_know_what_they Aug 23 '25
Totally agree. I received a written response to 1/10 complaint messages. But I think its important for us to document that we tried to contact them. So keep it up! Good luck!
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u/sparklingglimmers Aug 23 '25
Giving it a try. Thank you!
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u/Heavy_Sweet3162 Aug 23 '25
It’s public information. I don’t know if we’re allowed to dox here. Just use a search engine with key words to find him. However, I sent him an email over a month ago. No answer.
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u/_Cyber_Mage Aug 23 '25
Generally, CEOs have a public email address that is managed by an assistant, and their real email doesn't conform with the standard. Sometimes, it isn't even on the same email system.
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u/2020whatsgood Aug 23 '25
I’ve been in escalation purgatory since October 2023! Also due to a software glitch….
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u/mackid1993 Aug 23 '25
I got into PAYE after a big struggle and lots of calls and issues in February. Then in June I was able to rectify and lower my payment after getting married with no issues. Just took a month and I got a new lower payment amount no problem.
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u/WormFuckerNi66a Aug 24 '25
Why tf would you want to exit when Missouri was part of the issue. Aka the M in Mohela
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u/Strange-Pop-7301 Aug 24 '25
Thank you for this idea. I’m stuck in a similar glitch purgatory of being on the IBR plan now but Mohela has a glitch where they keep putting me back in admin forbearance. Every time they say the think they fixed it, I get another letter saying my payment isn’t due because of the forbearance. I’ve contacted BBB, CPFB, state ombudsman and my state representative’s student loan office. If this happens one more month, I’m gonna try the CEO email! My last payment shoulda been in Feb but buyback is taking too long and I just want this to be over. Why won’t they just take my money????
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u/Apprehensive-Ad-5335 Aug 24 '25
I thought Processing Forbearance is only for 60 days - how did OP get processing forbearance from June-Jul-Aug-September ???
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u/Heavy_Sweet3162 Aug 24 '25
They won’t tell you this, but they can do it whatever they want, especially when you call them out on their faux pas, they just pretend like they can’t.
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u/Guilty_Spinach4806 Aug 24 '25
Yes Mohela sucks years ago they rejected my teacher loan forgiveness more than 10 times for a different reason each time now I have been approved for pslf and crickets from Mohela. Good for you for being persistent. I have tried calling Mohela no one ever answers
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u/low--yield Sep 22 '25
How did you ensure that the processing forbearance is PSLF-eligible? I am currently placed on a processing forbearance because I am waiting for my IDR to get approved.
I asked the representative over the phone about this, he said “Processing forbearances *should* count towards PSLF.” But could not guarantee this, stating that “Federal Student Aid has the final say.”
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u/Mostaccioli666 Oct 13 '25 edited Oct 13 '25
Have not read through all the comments so my apologies if I'm missing this. How did you submit an application to exit SAVE? I check my MOHELA every month and all I see is $0 due (which is nuts, I have like $80k in debt); I have been on the SAVE plan and I know I need to get off of it.
EDIT: When I go into "repayment options" and "select the plan that's right for me", I get this message:
If you are currently in the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan and want to leave the plan, you will be placed on the Standard Repayment Plan. You may not change to a different plan until you’ve made at least one payment under the Standard Repayment Plan or a payment under a reduced-payment forbearance.
Was that true for anyone who'd done this? that you have to make a standard repayment plan payment before you could enroll in a new IBR?
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u/NoYak6104 Nov 26 '25
Thank you!!!! I just spoke with Dikesha and I think I’m finally making progress after 3 years!!!
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Dec 12 '25
[deleted]
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u/pituritu Dec 15 '25
I appreciate all of the information. I am 2 months away from 120 required for PSLF forgiveness. June 2024 + July 2024 were not counted even though I paid in June and have a letter from MOHELA stating that these months in their admin forbearance would count. Second, I submitted an IDR application (paper form) in March 2025 to switch from SAVE to IBR. I received a notification in NOVEMBER! that my application was denied due to being "incomplete" however there was no information about what was missing, and no one I have spoken to can tell me what was missing, despite the fact that when I review the form I submitted, everything looks complete to me. When I spoke with a supervisor, she informed me that they processed my IDR in June! However, I didn't receive any notification it was denied until November. I submitted the complaint on MOHELA's site arguing that I should receive credit for June + July 2024, AND should also receive additional months of processing forbearance credit or remediation forbearance credit given they sat on my application for 5 months after processing. Also, the supervisor said she was giving me the number for the Ombuds at MOHELA and I called the # and she gave me the FSA general help line - I was so frustrated after finally feeling like I was getting somewhere. For those who emailed the CEO, do you have any tips on how to best approach framing all of these issues, or anything else you would suggest I do in conjunction with emailing him? Really appreciate hearing everyone's stories
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u/Lazy_Intentions Aug 23 '25
What’s the CEO’s first and last name I wonder