Student Loan Cancellation Explained

A couple of Facebook fans who recently heard me on the Russ Parr Show have asked me to elaborate on the Student Loan Cancellation Program.

Under federal law, you can get your federal student loans canceled or discharged for many different circumstances.

Reasons for loan discharge:

Death
Total and permanent disability
School-related issues or improper certification by your school
Full-time teaching or public service work
Military service
Bankruptcy

Before I explain the nuts and bolts of what’s required for these various loan cancellations, let me first say that there are a multitude of scenarios that won’t get you a loan discharge.

Reasons that won‘t get you a loan discharge:

If you dropped out of school for any reason
Experienced personal problems that forced you to abandon your studies
Didn’t like your instructors
Couldn’t get a job after graduation
Were plagued by financial difficulties
If you thought the quality of the instruction you received was sub-par

None of those reasons will hold weight with the Department of Education.

Perseverance Required

Let me also caution you that getting a student loan canceled or discharged is rare and often requires tremendous perseverance, know-how, and work on your part.

Having said that, even though obtaining a discharge can be a big hassle, it is nevertheless certainly worth the effort and frustration you may experience in the process.

For more details, below are some links to previous articles which I have written regarding this topic: