Student Loan Assistance Program

Q. What is tuition.io?
A. Tuition.io is a platform that enables education assistance benefits:

• Student Loan Management Tools
• Student Loan Repayment Assistance
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness Tools
  

Q. Who can use tuition.io?
A. All active care team members and their family members. You do not need to be benefit-eligible to use tuition.io.

Q. What is the difference between Tuition Manager and tuition.io?
A. Tuition Manager is MaineHealth’s tuition assistance service that allows care team members to receive reimbursement for qualified tuition expenses. See Policy Manager. This is available to care team members who are continuously employed for at least six months in a benefit-eligible position.

Tuition.io is a platform that allows all active care team members and their family members to successfully navigate costs of higher education and the resulting student loan debt. The tuition.io platform includes free access to student loan management tools, navigating public service loan forgiveness, one-on-one loan coaching, college planning tools, and access to refinancing counseling.

Q. Is tuition.io only for care team members with student loan debt?
A. Tuition.io has many tools and resources for care team members. Although they specialize in student debt management tools, they also offer college-planning prep. This includes 529 planning insights, calculators and scholarship resources.

Q. How do I know if tuition.io’s tools apply to me or not? 
A. Because your situation is unique to you, we encourage care team members to log into the platform and create a profile. Building your profile allows tuition.io to curate your experience by showing you content that pertains to you and your specific needs.

Q. Who are my points of contact at tuition.io?
A. Please contact support@tuition.io or call tuition.io at 855-353-9395 (8 am - 8 pm EST) for general questions and technical support.

Q. I cannot find my Tuition.io registration email, how can I get access?
A. If you cannot find the email visit www.https://mainehealth.tuition.io/register to send yourself a new registration link. Please note - The email used to register is your NEW MaineHealth email ending in @mainehealth.org.

• Still having trouble? Contact support@tuition.io or call 855-353-9395, and they can help you register for your account. 

Q. How can my family members get access to Tuition.io?
A. You may add family members once you have registered by logging into your tuition.io account and clicking on the “Invite Family Members” tile on your tuition.io dashboard.

Q. Who do I talk to about my unique student debt situation?
A. Tuition.io’s coaches are real experts who are available via email, chat and phone call. These non-commissioned coaches are focused on helping care team members choose the best strategy. You can chat with a coach by logging into your Tuition.io account and selecting the student loan coaching tile on your dashboard. 

Q. What can the HR Solution Center do to assist? 
A. The HR Solution Center works behind the scenes to assist only with dates of hire verification. They are not the point of contact for Tuition.io services, processes or tools. For all questions related to Tuition.io please email support@tuition.io or call tuition.io at 855-353-9395 (8 am - 8 pm EST).

Q. How do I know if my past employers (non-MaineHealth) are qualifying employers?
A. The best way to find out if your prior employers are qualifying employers is to call them and ask if they are considered a 501c3 non-profit, government or tribal organization.

Q. How many forms do I need to submit?
A. You will need to submit a PSLF form for every qualifying employer (501c3 non-profit, government or tribal organizations) you have worked full-time for while making student loan payments since 10/01/2007 before 10/31/2022.

This will give you credit for all possible payments made while working in qualifying employment. You will need to complete and submit a unique PSLF form for each unique employer.

Q. Why am I being asked to submit additional forms when I already completed a PSLF form?
A. You may be asked to submit additional PSLF forms if, during your eligible employment history, you had a change in scheduled hours or a change to your MaineHealth federal employer ID number (FEIN). This is a 9 digit number on your W2 representing your employer.

*When MaineHealth unified under one Board of Trustees on 1/1/2019 the FEIN changed for member organizations. (Changes in FEIN may also occur when member organizations change locations/names or go through mergers). This is important because the Department of Education makes their approval decisions based on a handful of requirements, including the FEIN matching the employer name. The Department of Education requires one application per FEIN.

Q. Will I be asked to submit additional forms every year?
A. No, if your application is approved you will simply re-certify every year to show that you are still employed by a nonprofit employer. The re-certification process requires you to submit one form only through the tuition.io system which will show your date of hire through the present day.

Q: What are my next steps after completing the PSLF forms?

1. Login to your Tution.io Loan Forgiveness Dashboard. Complete the Tuition.io Strategy Finder to ensure you have taken all steps necessary for PSLF approval.
2. Confirm you are in an eligible income-driven repayment plan. [You can also apply for an income-driven plan on the Department of Education website. It is free and easy and takes less than 10 minutes.] If you do not know if you’re in an eligible income-driven repayment plan, complete the Tuition.io Strategy Finder. This tool will help you determined if you are on the right repayment plan or if you need to make changes.
3. Continue to make on-time monthly student loan payments.

The U.S. Department of Education announced a change to PSLF program rules for a limited time; borrowers may receive credit for past payments made that would not otherwise qualify for PSLF. Employees who work at a non-profit organization, such as MaineHealth or other health care facilities, for 10 years and who meet specific requirements, may qualify for forgiveness of their remaining federal student loan balance.

If you have federal student loans, you may benefit from this opportunity, even if you have been denied for PSLF in the past. The average projected forgiveness under PSLF is over $68,000 for health care employees who completed Tuition.io tools.

Q. What action should I take if I have student loans?
A. Sign up with MaineHealth's partner, Tuition.io to set up an account and track the PSLF process. You will then receive an email from 'studentloans' inviting you to register with Tuition.io. Follow the registration instructions to get started.

Q. What if I already received forgiveness under Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) or paid off my loan? Can I get a refund for payments that did not count toward my forgiveness but that count under this limited-time opportunity?
A. No. If you have already received forgiveness or paid off your loans, you are not eligible for a refund of prior payments.

Q. When can I expect to hear back on my application?
A. Tuition.io is the tool for getting your application processed.

You will need to complete your part first. MaineHealth will then complete the employer portion (verifying dates of service) within 3 weeks of your application. However, the U.S. Department of Education takes much longer. The important thing to note is if you are applying for the waiver, the only date that matters is when you and your employer submit your application through tution.io to the Department of Education.

Q. How can I check on the status of my application?
A. You can check on the status of your application at any time by logging into the platform and looking at your dashboard.

Q. What happens if I had breaks in service from MaineHealth (termination, per diem)?
A. You will need to submit a PSLF form for every qualifying employer you have worked full-time for while making student loan payments. If you have had a break in service, you may need submit more than one form for the same qualifying employer.

Q. What happens if I moved around amongst different local health systems within MaineHealth?
A. You will need to submit a PSLF form for every local health system you have worked full-time for while making student loan payments since 10/01/2007.

Q. What about care team members who currently engaged in the PSLF process and recently submitted an application outside the system?
A. We encourage you to register and link your loans on the Tuition.io platform, even if you have already submitted your application outside the system. This will allow you to track progress made on your application, prompt recommendations for new applications (annually) and provide educational insights.