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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 10/1/98 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 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
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Based on the PSLF Limited Waiver announced by the Department of Education in October 2021, if you received Teacher Loan Forgiveness, the period of service that led to your eligibility will count toward PSLF (if you certify employment for PSLF for that period). For more information, please visit StudentAid.gov/pslfwaiver.
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
 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
IMPORTANT UPDATE: On October 6, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education announced a change to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program rules that, for a limited time, may allow you to get credit for past periods of repayment on FFELP loans that wouldn’t normally qualify for PSLF. This waiver period is temporary and will end on October 31, 2022. To gain more information on this limited waiver period, including any actions you may need to take to gain access to these benefits, visit StudentAid.gov/pslfwaiver.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)*
  • You work full-time for a qualifying public service-organization (including military service) and meet other eligibility requirements.
  • You have eligible Direct Loans: Direct Subsidized Loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans, Direct PLUS Loans (made to parents or students), Direct Consolidation Loans, and Special Direct Consolidation Loans.
  • You make 120 qualifying payments on an eligible repayment plan.
 Forgives the remainder of your Direct Student Loan balance after you make 120 qualifying payments under an eligible repayment plan, 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