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.
Perserverance 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.
