Do months in student loan forbearance count toward loan forgiveness?

It depends on the type of forbearance. Ordinary discretionary forbearance you request to pause payments generally does NOT count toward the 120 payments for Public Service Loan Forgiveness or the 20-to-25 years for income-driven repayment forgiveness. However, special administrative forbearances the Department of Education grants during processing delays or litigation sometimes do count once the situation resolves, and the Department has periodically issued account adjustments to credit them. Never assume; log in to studentaid.gov and review your qualifying-payment count. If you are chasing PSLF, an income-driven repayment plan with a $0 payment is usually better than forbearance because those $0 months still count as qualifying payments.