How Do I Know if My Student Loans Were Discharged?

Hundreds of thousands of borrowers in the past two years have had their private and federal student loan balances wiped out under different debt cancellation settlements and forgiveness programs. Millions more may soon join them if President Biden takes executive action to make good on a campaign promise to cancel $10 thousand in federal student loan debt for all borrowers.

Ahead, learn how to find out if your student loans were discharged based on your situation.

Related: How to Apply for Student Loan Forgiveness

If you had loans with Navient

Earlier this year, Navient agreed to write off $1.7 billion in old, defaulted private student loans for 66 thousand people. The company began contacting borrowers in June to let them know their loans would be discharged.

Related: How Do I Know if My Student Loans Were Discharged From Navient?

Most, if not all, of the people whose loans were covered by that settlement, already had their balances cleared. If you still owe money on your private loans, you might need to explore other repayment options, like refinancingRefinancingTaking out a new private loan to pay off one or more existing student loans, usually to lower the interest rate or change the repayment term. Refinancing federal loans into a private loan eliminates federal benefits like IDR and PSLF. or negotiating a settlement.

Around the time Navient struck that deal, it also moved millions of federal student loan borrowers to a new loan servicerLoan ServicerThe company that manages a borrower's federal student loan account, processes payments, and handles applications for repayment plans, deferment, forbearance, and forgiveness on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education., AidvantageAidvantageA federal student loan servicer operated by Maximus that manages Direct Loan accounts on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education, including many accounts previously serviced by Navient.. Read more about the Navient Aidvantage move. Many of those borrowers aren’t eligible for any immediate forgiveness opportunities. But some who work in public service or have been paying federal loans for over 20 years may qualify for the waivers and account adjustments the U.S. Department of EducationU.S. Department of Education (ED)The federal agency that oversees federal student aid programs, issues regulations for federal student loans, and is the ultimate lender on Direct Loans. recently introduced. More on those programs below.

Related: Sallie Mae Loan Forgiveness

Finally, Navient continues to service some older federal student loans made under the Federal Family Education Loan ProgramFederal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP)The federal program that guaranteed student loans made by private lenders through 2010. Loans issued under this program are commonly called FFELP loans and are still held by millions of borrowers.. Those FFEL Loans can receive credit towards repayment plan forgiveness for months spent in lengthy forbearances. Read more about forbearance steering.

Learn More: Will Navient Loans Be Forgiven?

If you attended a for-profit school

The Education Department has canceled billions in federal student loans for borrowers defrauded by sham, for-profit schools. Students who attended schools like Corinthian Colleges, DeVry, ITT Tech, and so on have gotten student loan discharges through a once little-used program known as borrower defense to repayment.

Any student who attended a school that broke state consumer protection laws, lied about career services, job placement, etc., can submit a borrower defense claim to have their student debt canceled. But submitting an application doesn’t mean it will be approved. Hundreds of thousands of applications sat unchecked for years during the Trump administration. Then, in Betsy DeVos’ last year as Education Secretary, the department churned out mass denials, rejecting nearly all of the claims that were filed.

The department recently struck a deal to reverse those denials. The agreement is pending final approval by a federal judge. If granted, around 200 thousand people who sought relief after attending schools that showed signs of “substantial misconduct” will have their federal student loans wiped out.

Learn More: Borrower Defense School List

If you worked in public service

Last October, the Biden administration overhauled a student loan forgiveness program for public service employees that had been broken for years. The temporary fixes it put in place softened the eligibility requirements, allowing 145 thousand full-time government and nonprofit employees to receive over $8.1 billion in relief so far.

Forgiveness under this program is nearly automatic for borrowers with Direct Loans. But if you have FFEL or Federal Perkins Loans, you’ll need to consolidate those debts into a Direct consolidation loan and submit an employer certification form before the PSLF Waiver ends on Oct. 31, 2022, to qualify for relief.

Parents who took out PLUS Loans aren’t eligible for the extra benefits the waiver provides. But they still qualify for public service forgiveness after 10 years of work and monthly payments.

Learn More: How to Qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program

If you’re disabled

The government will discharge your federal student loan debt if a physical or mental disability prevents you from working. To qualify for a Total and Permanent Disability DischargeTotal and Permanent Disability Discharge (TPD)A federal loan discharge for borrowers who are totally and permanently disabled, as documented by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Social Security Administration, or a physician's certification., you must provide proof from your doctor, the Social Security Administration, or the Veterans Administration that your disability is permanent and prevents you from holding down full-time work.

Last fall, the Education Department used an existing data match with the SSA to grant automatic discharges to disabled borrowers. Two years ago, it did the same thing for military veterans using VA data. The department plans to continue streamlining the TPD program to make it easier for disabled borrowers to get the relief they’re entitled to receive.

The TPD program is administered by one of the department’s student loan servicers, NelnetNelnetA federal student loan servicer that manages millions of Direct Loan accounts on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education.. You can apply online at disabilitydischarge.com.

Learn More: What Disabilities Qualify for Student Loan Forgiveness?

If you filed bankruptcy

Filing bankruptcy doesn’t automatically eliminate your student loans. To discharge federal and private student loans in bankruptcy, you must file a lawsuit known as an adversary proceedingAdversary Proceeding (AP)A separate lawsuit filed within a bankruptcy case, required to seek discharge of student loans. The borrower files the AP against the loan holder and asks the court to find undue hardship.. In that lawsuit, you’ll usually need to prove that you can’t keep up with your student loan payments without suffering undue hardshipUndue HardshipThe legal standard a borrower must meet to discharge federal student loans in bankruptcy under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8). Courts apply different tests, most commonly the Brunner Test or the Totality of the Circumstances Test..

Clearing this bar is challenging — especially for federal loans. On the other hand, education loans from private lenders are a bit easier to tackle. But the process is still tricky to navigate. Hiring a student loan bankruptcy lawyer can help.

Learn More: Can You File Bankruptcy on Student Loans?

Bottom Line

In addition to the opportunities listed above, the federal government has several other programs that discharge student loans. Check out a complete list of discharge opportunities and the application process on the Federal Student AidFederal Student Aid (FSA)The office within the U.S. Department of Education that manages federal grants, work-study, and student loans. It runs the FAFSA, the StudentAid.gov website, and oversees the federal loan servicers. website, studentaid.gov.

Let’s talk if you want to learn more about what discharge and forgiveness opportunities you may benefit from.

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