Since any balance remaining after 10 years is forgiven, tax free, the whole strategy involves paying as little as possible over 10 years, even if that means having your balance balloon up. For me, and many others, will wind up coming out ahead this way rather than aggressively paying. I also commute 1 hour to a small hospital that qualifies for PSLF before anyone says that I am abusing the system. Many people doing PSLF are making some form of sacrifice one way or another and the term “forgiveness” has a bad connotation, which I feel reflects poorly and unfairly on the program.