Disputing Your Debt and Loan Cancellation

In extremely limited cases, your debt can be canceled.

Closed School Discharge

Were you attending a school when it closed? A closed school is defined as "[A school that] ceases to provide educational instruction in all programs."  If your school stopped providing one particular program of study, it wouldn’t qualify as “closed.”

To be eligible for this discharge:

• You were in attendance and actively pursuing an education within the last 90 days of the school’s existence; or
• You were on an approved leave of absence when the school closed.

If you meet either of these requirements, please submit the required School Closure application.

Ability to Benefit

Did your school fail to ensure that you could succeed in the program it provided?

To be eligible for this discharge:

• You did not have a high school diploma or a GED when you attended the school; and
• You were not tested in any way when you enrolled at the school.

If you meet both of these criteria, please submit the required Ability to Benefit application.

Unauthorized Signature

In extremely rare cases, a school has signed a borrower’s name on a financial aid application without authorization, received the borrower’s loan funds, and the borrower received no benefit from those funds. By not benefiting, we mean those funds did not pay for your tuition, room and board, books, etc.

To be eligible for this discharge:

• You certify, under penalty of perjury, that your school signed your name on the loan application/promissory note/loan check(s) and
• You did not benefit from the proceeds of the loan(s) either directly or by credit applied to the school for that portion of the educational program you completed and
• You provide EdFund with five different examples of your signature, two within a year of the loan in question.

If you believe your school improperly signed your name to a loan and that the loan funds did not assist in paying for your education, please submit the required Unauthorized Signature application.

Disqualifying Status

While you were in school, did you have a criminal record or an age-related, physical or mental condition that prevented you from meeting the legal employment requirements in the occupation for which the program of study was intended?

If you believe you meet this criterion, please submit the required Disqualifying Status application.

Total and Permanent Disability

Are you completely unable to work and earn money because of a medically verifiable impairment that is expected to continue indefinitely, or result in death?

If you believe you meet the criteria for this program, please submit the required Total and Permanent Disability application. Your form must be completed by your doctor, who must be a medical doctor (MD) or a doctor of osteopathy (DO). If your doctor is neither of these, you application will not be approved.

If EdFund approves your application, your account will be assigned to the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Your loan will be placed in a three-year conditional discharge if it meets ED’s basic criteria. If the criteria are still met by the end of the three- year period, your loan will be forgiven.

Unpaid Refund

If you attended school for less than 60% of the loan period, you may be due a refund for at least some of what you owe on your loan. If you qualify, your school should have returned money to your lender and ensured you receive a refund.

If you are aware of your school’s tuition refund policy and believe you are eligible for a refund that was unpaid, please submit the required Unpaid Refund application.

Teacher Loan Forgiveness

If you are a teacher and meet certain criteria, you may have a portion of your student loan debt forgiven. This program is offered to both defaulted and non-defaulted borrowers. Depending on your teaching specialty, you may be eligible for up to $5,000 or up to $17,500.

To qualify you must have:

• Been employed as a full-time teacher for five consecutive, complete academic years at a school designated by the U.S. Department of Education as “low income.”
• At least one of those years must have occurred after the 1997 – 1998 academic year
• The loan forgiven must have been made before the end of the fifth year of qualifying teaching
• You must not have had an outstanding balance on a Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) or Federal Direct Loan Program (FDLP) loan as of October 1, 1998, or on the date you obtained a FFELP or FDLP loan after October 1, 1998.
• The school must be public or private nonprofit
• If your loan is in default, you must first return your debt to a satisfactory repayment status. Please contact EdFund at 1.800.367.1589 for more information about arranging satisfactory repayment on a defaulted student loan.

Visit the U.S. Department of Education’s list of eligible schools, to determine if your school is on the list.

General Dispute Information

If you have a dispute regarding your student loan, and it is held by EdFund, please submit your concerns in writing via e-mail; please DO NOT include confidential information, such as your Social Security Number. Be sure to be as specific as possible regarding your concern or issue.