Student Loan Assistance

The University of Pittsburgh is collaborating with TIAA and public benefit company Savi to provide University faculty and staff with assistance in navigating repayment plans and federal student loan programs, such as the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.

Navigating student loans can be complicated and overwhelming, and there are a variety of eligibility requirements necessary to qualify for a number of programs. With TIAA's and Savi's assistance, faculty and staff can:

  • Get help navigating and applying for federal loan repayment and forgiveness programs, like the PSLF program
  • Learn about lowering your interest rate, consolidating loans, or reducing your payments
  • Discover if other benefits or programs are available

Savi and TIAA will provide objective and reliable advice to help you manage federal and private student debt--including loans that you may have taken out for dependents.

Get Started with Savi

Visit tiaa.org/pitt/student and follow the path to register and explore your federal forgiveness options. You'll need three things to use Savi effectively:

  1. Your full 9-digit social security number
  2. The first page of your most recent tax transcript or tax return
    • A tax transcript is a summary of your recent tax filings that can be requested from the IRS. Each transcript includes important information for applying to new student repayment plans, such as your filing status, adjusted gross income, wages, and more. Request a copy of your tax transcript online.
  3. Logins to any loan servicers (e.g., Navient, Nelnet, Great Lakes)
    • Your login information includes your username or email, password, and anything else required to log into your student loan servicer's website. Your student loan servicer website is the place you to go to make payments on your student loans. This information will be used to import your student loan details into Savi during the account setup process.

Tools and Services through Savi

Student Loan Checkup

Savi's Student Loan Checkup tool is free to use and helps determine possible student loan repayment options and forgiveness programs for which you may be eligible. To use the tool, you will need to enter some personal information about yourself and your current loans. The tool will provide options that you may take with your loans, such as enrolling in an income-driven repayment plan.

Savi Essential Service

Savi Essential Service provides step-by-step support to help you qualify and enroll in federal forgiveness programs, as well as ongoing support, reminders, payment tracking to ensure that you remain eligible and in compliance.

The $60 fee is waived for the first year of use for active employees. After the first year, it then is the employee's responsibility to pay the Savi Essential Fee if they wish to continue use.

What to Expect When Using Savi

Taking the first step towards applying for PSLF or another forgiveness program with Savi? Here's what to expect:

  • You must be enrolled in Savi Essential Service to take advantage of Savi's administrative support and assistance with applying for a student loan forgiveness program.
  • Beyond asking for your basic information, Savi handles the administration and submission of your student loan forgiveness program form.
    • For the PSLF program, this is called the Employment Certification Form (ECF); the ECF must be submitted annually for the PSLF program
  • After filling out your part of the form via the online submission process, Savi will manually check your form for any errors or omissions.
  • Savi then sends the form to the University of Pittsburgh to verify your employment.
  • After verifying your employment, the University sends the form back to Savi.
  • Savi then submits the form to the servicer to be processed.
  • The $60 fee is waived for the first year of use for active employees. After the first year, it then is the employee's responsibility to pay the Savi Essential Fee if they wish to continue use.

Savi provides ongoing support after the submission of relevant forms and will work with you if and when future action needs to be taken, including assistance with transferring your loans to a new loan servicer and/or applying for loan repayment plans.

Need Help? Contact Savi

Questions about your Savi account; applying for loan forgiveness programs; navigating repayment plans; or items related to the PLSF program, eligibility, or submitting the ECF should be directed to Savi.

You can contact Savi by chatting with online support on Savi's website or by calling 833-945-0654 weekdays between 8:30 am - 8:00 pm (ET).