What’s the interest rate on those loans? Are all 65k federal “direct” loans eligible forgiveness. Note that there are various types of direct loans, as long as Direct is somewhere in the long version of the loan name they’re eligible.
65k and only 1 year in is right at edge in terms of you might actually, depending on anticipated salary increases and interest, pay more with PSLF over 10 years than you would paying off the loans early. Is your wife on a payscale? That should make calculations easier. Do you know what average salary is in your industry for x years? Salary matters because your payments go up on PSLF as your salary increases. If she has a low interest rate where you be told to pay the minimum and invest anyways, since return on investment would be more than saving interest, then she needs to look at how much PSLF saves her over the course of 10 years.
Plug numbers into the federal payment estimator to understand how much she would pay in the three scenarios (payoff ASAP, payoff standard plan 10 years, payoff with PSLF). I wouldn’t go with dept of Ed’s top end or overall estimates b/c it plugs in standard assumptions about salary increases that might not be true, especially for public sector. It’s best to calculate payment each of ten years using your own best salary estimates.
https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/repaymentEstimatorAlso, loan forgiveness is easier now, not harder, because the rules are very clear and you just need to make sure you guys understand them and follow them. Double check the type of loans she has are eligible, double check the payment plan she’s on is eligible (hint if she’s not on a plan that requires yearly income certification she’s not on a eligible plan), make sure she sends in annual employment certs to track her credits towards forgiveness. I feel bad for those who started the program 2008-11ish when Dept of Ed didn’t even have all the rules down. Your wife doesn’t fall in that camp, so apply some due diligence and she’ll be fine.