Agree. And my intention was not to criticize; simply to provide updated information to those who might be seeking it (and save them an hour wait on hold with MOHELA).

Updated is not published, and articles are updated all the time to reflect changes… you can see dates on all the comments too. You NIH example is a solid reason why there was a problem that had to be fixed. But generally, if you’re not forced via a lump sum, it’s not a good idea to pay ahead on your loans for PSLF. Look at the last 42 months as a reminder why extra payments may be a waste of good money.

The date on the article (Updated: August 18, 2023) is, then, misleading. The first line of the article (“The Department of Education revised the rules on Pay Ahead Status…”) does not clearly address the “fix” since deeper in the article it is stated “If your pay ahead status caused your following month payment to be $0, that payment doesn’t count for PSLF. ” This strikes me as inaccurate as 12 months of being in the “pay ahead” status does indeed count for PSLF. There are absolutely good reasons to take advantage of the “pay ahead” status. For example, grants (NIH Loan Repayment Programs), which are paid in large sums towards student loans.

You’re commenting on a three plus year old thread/comment on a problem that was solved via a legislative change – which was prompted by this article when it was originally written in 2017…

Source: https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service/questions#qualifying-payments

If I pay more than my scheduled monthly student loan payment amount, can I get PSLF sooner than 10 years?
No. You must make payments to cover 120 separate monthly obligations. Paying extra won’t make you eligible to receive PSLF sooner.
You may prepay, or make lump-sum payments, which first apply to any months during which you missed a payment and then would apply to future months up to your next income-driven payment (IDR) plan certification date or 12 months.
For example, if you recertified your IDR and your monthly payment was $100, but you paid $1200 for the first month’s payment, that payment would count as 12 separate monthly payments for that year. You would not need to make another payment until the next 12-month cycle when you have to re-certify your income for IDR. These payments would count as qualifying payments toward PSLF forgiveness once you certified your employment with a qualifying employer for the same 12-month period (which you can’t do in advance).