Federal student loans offer benefits that many other loans don't. One benefit is the ability to qualify for loan forgiveness—under special circumstances, the federal government may forgive part, or all, of your federal student loans. This means you're no longer obligated to make your loan payments. Another benefit is there may be some situations where you may qualify to have your loans discharged.
These are some of the most common types of loan forgiveness and discharge.
- Public Service Loan Forgiveness (and Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness)
- Teacher Loan Forgiveness
- Closed School Discharge
- Total and Permanent Disability Discharge
Note this is not a complete list Offsite, and you need to meet certain requirements and provide specific information to qualify.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
If you are employed by a government or nonprofit organization, you may be able to receive loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program.
The PSLF Program forgives the remaining balance on your Direct Loans* after you have made 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time for a qualifying employer.
Complete the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Form With the PSLF Help Tool
The PSLF Help Tool Offsite helps determine whether you work for a qualifying employer for the PSLF or Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) programs, suggests actions you can take to become eligible for PSLF, and guides you through the PSLF form and submission process.
PSLF Servicer
Servicing for the PSLF Program is managed by another federal student loan servicer (MOHELA Offsite). If you submit a PSLF form to the PSLF servicer, your eligible loans will be transferred from Great Lakes to MOHELA. If your loans have already been transferred to MOHELA, you can log in to their borrower portal to track your PSLF status and payment counts.
* Any loan received under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program qualifies for PSLF.
Loans from these federal student loan programs don't qualify for PSLF: the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program and the Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins Loan) Program. However, they would become eligible if you consolidate them into a Direct Consolidation Loan. Please note: if you consolidate your loans, only qualifying payments that you make on the new Direct Consolidation Loan can be counted toward the 120 payments required for PSLF. Any payments you made on the loans before you consolidated them don't count.
If you applied to consolidate your FFEL Program loans and/or Perkins Loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan by October 31, 2022, and timely submitted your PSLF form to MOHELA, be assured your PSLF form will be evaluated under the limited PSLF waiver rules. These time-limited changes to PSLF Program rules allow borrowers to receive credit for past periods of repayment that would otherwise not qualify for PSLF. This opportunity ended on October 31, 2022.
Student loans from private lenders do not qualify for PSLF.
Limited PSLF Waiver: What Happens After the End of the Waiver October 31, 2022
The "limited PSLF waiver" refers to the time-limited changes to Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program rules that allowed borrowers to receive credit for past periods of repayment that would otherwise not qualify for PSLF. This opportunity ended on October 31, 2022 and beginning November 1, 2022, we went back to the normal program requirements for both PSLF Offsite and TEPSLF Offsite. If you submitted your PSLF form to MOHELA on time, be assured your PSLF form will be evaluated under the limited PSLF waiver rules.
You may be eligible to submit a PSLF form to MOHELA after October 31, 2022, and continue to qualify for the benefits of the waiver if you met certain criteria. For more information, see StudentAid.gov Offsite
Teacher Loan Forgiveness
If you teach full-time for five complete and consecutive academic years in a low-income elementary school, secondary school, or educational service agency, you may be eligible for forgiveness of up to $17,500 on your Direct Loan program loans. See StudentAid.gov/teach-forgive Offsite for more information and a form you can fill out when you have completed your teaching service.
Search for your school in the Annual Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits Offsite. You can also get the full list of eligibility requirements for this forgiveness program at StudentAid.gov/teacher Offsite.
Learn more about the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program, eligibility requirements, and how to apply. (If you aren't already logged in, you'll be asked to do so.)
Borrower Defense to Repayment
If you believe that the school you attended misled you or engaged in misconduct in violation of certain laws, the federal student loans you obtained to attend that school may be eligible for forgiveness, called Borrower Defense to Repayment. Learn more about the process, eligibility requirements and how you can apply Offsite.
Total and Permanent Disability Discharge
Learn more about the Total and Permanent Disability Discharge process Offsite, eligibility requirements, and how to apply.
Note: Servicing for this process is managed by another federal student loan servicer. If you apply for a Total and Permanent Disability Discharge, your eligible loans will be transferred from Great Lakes to that servicer.
Not Eligible for Total and Permanent Disability?
If you believe you qualify for one of the programs other than the Total and Permanent Disability Discharge, complete and submit a loan forgiveness, cancellation, or discharge application form. (If you aren't already logged in, you'll be asked to do so.)
All forms are in Portable Document Format (PDF). In order to view PDF files, you must first download the free Acrobat Reader software. Detailed instructions for downloading and installing the Acrobat Reader are located on the Adobe website Offsite.
Not finding the right repayment option?
Not everyone follows the same path while in school, or afterward when you're expected to pay back your loans.
Learn more about other repayment options to find the one that best fits your circumstances.