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Loan Forgiveness and Discharge

See if you qualify to have your loan debt reduced or eliminated, depending on your professional or personal situation.

Program You may qualify if… How it works…
Teacher Loan Forgiveness Your loans were disbursed after 10/1/1998 and you teach full-time for 5 consecutive and complete academic years at a Title I school or educational service agency that appears on the Department of Education's (ED) Annual Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits. Forgives part or all of your educational loan debt, provided you fulfill certain work-related requirements
Loan Discharge Your school:
  • Closed
  • Falsely certified your ability to benefit from education
  • Signed your name without your authorization
  • Failed to pay a tuition refund
  • Misled you or engaged in other misconduct in violation of certain laws
Dismisses your monthly loan payments and refunds payments you have already made
Total and Permanent Disability
  • You can't work for pay when the work involves significant physical or mental activities.
  • You are a veteran who has been determined to be unemployable due to a service-connected condition.
Cancels your obligation to repay the balance of your student loans
Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
  • You are employed by a qualifying employer (or serve in a full-time AmeriCorps or Peace Corps position)
  • You work full-time for that employer for a minimum average of 30 hours per week
  • NOTE: You can work part-time at more than one qualifying job at the same time, provided you work an average of at least 30 hours a week with these employers.

  • You have Direct Loans (or consolidate other federal student loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan)
  • You make 120 qualifying payments under a qualifying repayment plan or other eligible period after October 1, 2007. Payments made under a qualifying repayment plan includes:
    • Ten-year Standard repayment plan
    • Income-Driven Repayment plans
    • Any other plan (except the alternative repayment plan) where the monthly payment is equal to, or greater than the payment on a 10-year standard repayment plan
  • Other eligible periods that will count toward PSLF include months where the customer receives one of the following deferments or forbearances:
    • Cancer Treatment Deferment
    • Economic Hardship Deferment
    • Military Service Deferment
    • Post Active-Duty Student Deferment
    • AmeriCorps Forbearance
    • National Guard Duty Forbearance
    • U.S. Department of Defense Student Loan Repayment Program Forbearance
    • Administrative Forbearance and Mandatory Administrative Forbearance

Additional eligibility requirements can be found on StudentAid.gov/PSLF, including information about the PSLF program, how to check if your employer qualifies, and to learn about any necessary steps you need to take.

If you consolidate your loans by April 2024, you can take advantage of the limited-time opportunity of one-time adjustments to payment counts under the Income-Driven Repayment and PSLF programs. For more information, please visit StudentAid.gov.

Forgives the remainder of your Direct Loan balance after you make 120 qualifying payments under an eligible repayment plan (including other eligible periods), while employed full-time for a qualifying public service organization
Death
  • You, the borrower, die, then your loans may be discharged.
  • You are a parent PLUS loan borrower, then your loan may be discharged if you die, or if the student on whose behalf you obtain the loan dies.
Dismisses your monthly loan payments and the remainder of your loan

Additional Resources for your Federal Loans