r/PSLF rules, stats, and what to post

A source-backed Rankhog guide to r/PSLF: public rules, community context, posting fit, and startup-promotion risk before you publish.

Members: 117.5K
Community age: Created Aug 2014, 12 years
To post: No minimum in the rules
To comment: No minimum in the rules
Self-promotion: Banned
Links: Allowed with conditionsReferral links are banned. Links to other sites with referral links are banned.
Promo risk: HighFrom the rules, not from removal counts

Checked November 2, 2026 from the community's public Reddit pages:

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Subreddits like r/PSLF

Subreddits like r/PSLF are r/personalfinance, r/stocks, r/Frugal, r/Daytrading, r/StockMarket, r/investing, r/povertyfinance and r/UKPersonalFinance.

r/PSLF alternatives compared: members, karma to post and self-promo rules.
Subreddit	Members	Karma to post	Self-promo
r/personalfinance	21.9M	None listed	Banned
r/stocks	9.4M	None listed	Banned
r/Frugal	6.9M	None listed	Banned
r/Daytrading	5.2M	None listed	Limited
r/StockMarket	4.1M	None listed	Banned
r/investing	3.5M	None listed	Banned
r/povertyfinance	2.9M	None listed	Limited
r/UKPersonalFinance	1.9M	None listed	Banned

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By Anthony Riera, founder and operator of Rankhog.

Subreddit guides combine public Reddit source URLs, captured rules, visible verification dates, and Rankhog's account-safety workflow.

Rule summary

No referral links/codes: Do not offer or ask for referral codes. Do not post your link/code here. Do not link to another site or subreddit where you have posted your referral link/code.
No blog/vlog spam, marketing, market research, or self-promotion: Even without referral links, steering users to another site (whether or not the site is yours) where you get financial benefit (from ads, sales, or otherwise) is not allowed. This also includes market research and focus group-style testing of products and services. If you have good advice to share, then copy it here in full so that the community can benefit. (Exceptions may be made at the mods' discretion for bona fide non-profit groups and other particularly helpful resources.)
No crowdfunding: Do not request funding or co-signing of your debt. Do not offer to pay off or co-sign another's debt here, regardless of method. This community is for advice and discussion, not to facilitate transfer of money.
No advocating default: As an advice community, our primary goal is helping people work to improve their situation through legal means, including honoring their valid contracts. Sometimes default is unavoidable, in which case we'll provide support and advice for getting out of it, but this is not the place to advocate intentional default or get advice about defaulting on purpose.
No private or direct contact information: Do not post private or direct contact information for loan servicer employees, ED employees, or anyone else that's not officially available.
Surveys and interviews must be approved in advance: Before posting a survey, interview request, or asking for personal information, get moderator approval. We'll want to know: A) who you are, B) what company/group/school you're with, C) what the purpose of the data collection is, D) how you'll protect respondents' privacy, and E) how the data collected will benefit the /r/StudentLoans community. Bona fide journalists, researchers, and non-profits are more likely to get approved; for-profit companies will be viewed more skeptically.
Comply with Reddiquette and reddit-wide rules: Please **comply with the principles of [reddiquette](https://www.reddit.com/wiki/reddiquette)** and **obey [the site rules](https://www.reddit.com/rules/)**.
Professionals must be verified: Professionals must be verified by the mods. See more [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/StudentLoans/comments/e3r057/new_rule_8_professionals_must_be_verified).
This is an advice community: [This is primarily a community for **requesting and giving advice**](https://www.reddit.com/r/StudentLoans/comments/1n9o8jf/rule_reorganization_and_clarification_new_rule_9/). Content that (a) is not directly related to the PSLF program; (b) is unhelpful or not related to the OP; (c) requests or offers advice on illegal activities; or (d) is based on fearmongering, unqualified speculation, or non-expert outside sources (including large language models/AI) is not appropriate here.

Works well

A full text explainer of a PSLF program step that borrowers keep asking about, written completely in the post with no external links.
A plain answer to someone's specific question about qualifying payments or paperwork, based only on what you actually know.
A calm, factual correction of a common misconception about the program, written in your own words with no speculation.
A thoughtful comment in someone else's help thread that gives the whole answer in the comment itself.

Avoid

Posting your referral link or code, or linking to another site or subreddit where your referral link lives.
Linking to your own blog, tool, or landing page when you get financial benefit from ads, sales, or anything else.
Running market research or focus group style questions to test a product or service on the community.
Posting a survey, interview request, or personal information request without getting moderator approval first.
Using AI or large language model generated answers as the basis for advice you give here.
Posting unqualified speculation or fearmongering about the program from non expert outside sources, which rule 9 names as inappropriate content.

What r/PSLF Is For

r/PSLF is a community for information and advice about Public Service Loan Forgiveness, a forgiveness program for US federal student loans. It is part of the /r/StudentLoans network. The people here are public service workers trying to navigate the program, so the posts are questions about qualifying payments, employment certification, and forgiveness status, and answers from people who have been through it. The community states clearly that this is primarily a place for requesting and giving advice. It is not a place to move money, not a place to sell things, and not a place for content that drifts away from the PSLF program itself.

Rules That Matter Before Posting

The rule that decides almost everything marketing related is “No blog/vlog spam, marketing, market research, or self-promotion”, which bans steering users to another site where you get financial benefit, even when the site is not yours. “No referral links/codes” bans offering, asking for, or linking to referral codes anywhere, including other sites or subreddits where you posted yours. “Surveys and interviews must be approved in advance” means any data collection needs moderator sign off before you post, and the rules note that for profit companies are viewed more skeptically. “Professionals must be verified” requires mods to verify you before you act as a professional in the community. “This is an advice community” filters out anything not directly related to the PSLF program, plus fearmongering, unqualified speculation, non expert outside sources, and AI generated content. “No crowdfunding” and “No advocating default” come up less for founders but can get a post removed fast.

What To Post

A good post here is pure help with nothing held back. If you know something useful about the PSLF program, write the full answer in your post so nobody has to click anywhere to get the value. The rules even say it directly: if you have good advice to share, copy it here in full so the community can benefit. The best shape is a plain, generous breakdown of a program topic, like how a specific step in the process works or what a borrower should check before they submit something, written from your own knowledge with no links and no pitch. Answer questions people ask. If your comment helps someone, that is your reputation. There is no marketing lane here, so treat any post as a contribution first and nothing else.

What To Avoid

The fastest removal triggers are the money rules: “No referral links/codes” bans posting, offering, or asking for referral codes, and linking to any other site or subreddit where you have posted your link or code. “No blog/vlog spam, marketing, market research, or self-promotion” bans steering users to another site where you get financial benefit, whether from ads, sales, or otherwise, and it also bans market research and focus group style testing of products and services. “Surveys and interviews must be approved in advance” makes any survey, interview request, or request for personal information off limits until moderators approve it, and they want to know who you are, what company you are with, the purpose, how you protect privacy, and how the data benefits the community. “No crowdfunding” bans asking for funding, asking anyone to co-sign your debt, or offering to pay off or co-sign someone else's debt. “No advocating default” bans encouraging intentional default or asking how to default on purpose. “This is an advice community” removes content that is not directly related to the PSLF program, is unhelpful, seeks advice on illegal activity, or is based on fearmongering, unqualified speculation, non expert outside sources, or large language models and AI. “Professionals must be verified” means you cannot pose as a professional here until the mods verify you. “No private or direct contact information” bans posting private contact details for loan servicer or ED employees or anyone else whose details are not officially available.

A note from Anthony

What stands out to me is rule 9, which explicitly bans advice based on large language models or AI, so if you rely on AI tools to draft your answers here, the rules name that as inappropriate content. I also respect how rule 2 handles generosity: if you have good advice, copy it in full so the community keeps the value instead of chasing a click. There are no observed top posts for this community in our data, so read fresh threads before posting and match what real borrowers are asking. This is one of the stricter advice communities I have reviewed, and the honest play is to give freely and take nothing back.

By Anthony Riera, founder and operator of Rankhog.

Every guide is generated from the community's own public rules and data, then reviewed by Rankhog's grounding audit before it publishes.

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Common questions about r/PSLF

What subreddits are similar to r/PSLF?

Subreddits like r/PSLF are r/personalfinance, r/stocks, r/Frugal, r/Daytrading, r/StockMarket, r/investing, r/povertyfinance and r/UKPersonalFinance.

Can I share my product with a referral link or discount code?

No. Rule 1, “No referral links/codes”, bans offering or asking for codes and also bans linking to any site or subreddit where you have posted your code.

Can I link to my blog post if the advice is genuinely good?

Not with a link. “No blog/vlog spam, marketing, market research, or self-promotion” says you get no financial benefit from steering people elsewhere, so if you have good advice you must copy it here in full.

I want to run a survey of borrowers. Is that allowed?

Yes, but only after moderator approval. “Surveys and interviews must be approved in advance” requires you to share who you are, what company you are with, the purpose, how you protect privacy, and how the data benefits the community. For profit companies are viewed more skeptically.

I am a financial professional. Can I give advice right away?

No. “Professionals must be verified” means mods must verify you first, and unverified professional advice is on the moderator one-liner removal list.

What if my tool is free?

Only at the mods' discretion, and the stated exception is for bona fide non profit groups and other particularly helpful resources, not commercial products.