How to Get Your Student Loans Forgiven

Student loans have become a common way to pay for college. More than half of bachelor's degree recipients from public and private schools take on student loan debt, with an average balance of $29,400 per borrower, according to an annual report from the College Board.

With so many people taking out loans for their education, it’s no surprise that many Americans are eager for help getting out of debt. While the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Biden administration’s premiere student loan forgiveness plan, there are still several available paths to get some relief from your loans.

In fact, the Biden administration says it has so far approved more than $140 billion in student debt cancellation for nearly 4 million borrowers. Here's an overview of the programs that made that possible.

Table of Contents:

• Biden administration's one-time student loan forgiveness
• Income-driven repayment forgiveness
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness
• Teacher loan forgiveness
• Perkins loan cancellation
• Student loan discharge programs
• Other student loan forgiveness programs
• Student loan forgiveness FAQs

Biden’s one-time student loan forgiveness

Student loan debt has reached an all-time high, with borrowers owing $1.7 trillion in outstanding student loans.

To address this problem, President Joe Biden promised during his campaign that he would work to forgive some student debt. But last summer, the Supreme Court ruled his first plan — which called for up to $20,000 of loan forgiveness per borrower — overstepped his executive authority.

Since then, the Biden administration has been pursuing a more limited plan to offer some loan forgiveness. The plan focuses on canceling the debt of specific borrowers, including those with accumulated interest, borrowers who've been in repayment for decades and borrowers who attended "low-value" programs. More details will likely trickle out this year, but keep in mind that legal challenges are likely.

Existing federal student loan forgiveness programs

If you are one of the roughly 43 million borrowers with outstanding federal student loans, you may qualify for a loan forgiveness program. These programs require several years of service and/or on-time payments and, after meeting the programs' requirements, the remainder of your loans are eliminated.

There are four ongoing loan forgiveness programs through the federal government:

Income-driven repayment forgiveness

An income-driven repayment (IDR) plan can be a good way to reduce your payments if you have federal Direct loans and cannot afford the amount required under a 10-year standard repayment plan.

Income-driven repayment plans calculate your payments using a percentage of your discretionary income. Depending on your income and family size, you could qualify for a payment as low as $0. If you still have a balance at the end of your IDR loan term, the government will forgive the remainder of your loans.

There are multiple IDR plans, including a new, more generous plan the Biden administration launched in 2023 as the pandemic era payment pause was ending. The plans vary in terms of time in repayment, the percentage of income owed and the definition of discretionary income. Here’s an overview:

For most borrowers, the new SAVE plan will be the best option. That remains true even though many of the SAVE plan's marquee benefits are currently halted while two separate court cases challenging the repayment plan carry out. In the meantime, you can use the federal loan simulator tool to see which repayment plan would give you the lowest monthly payment or allow you to qualify for loan forgiveness faster. You can also apply for an IDR plan online at studentaid.gov.

While relatively few borrowers have had their loans forgiven through an IDR plan so far, experts predict the numbers will increase significantly in the near future, since the uptake of these plans is far more common now.

Plus, millions of borrowers will get help moving toward forgiveness thanks to a one-time account adjustment the Biden administration is in the process of carrying out. The adjustment aims to ensure borrowers are getting credit toward forgiveness for every month they’ve been in repayment. It will also count certain periods of deferment and forbearance as payments.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

PSLF is a federal loan forgiveness program for workers who choose careers with government agencies or non-profit organizations rather than for-profit companies. Since those career paths tend to be lower-paying, the PSLF program incentivizes work in public service.

You can benefit from PSLF if you work for a qualifying employer full-time for at least 10 years. To be eligible for loan forgiveness, you must enter into a qualifying payment plan — one of the four IDR plans — and make 120 monthly qualifying payments.

Previously, loan forgiveness through PSLF was exceedingly rare; in fact, the Government Accountability Office reported that 99% of applications were denied at first. As a result, the U.S. Department of Education overhauled the program and made some substantial changes.

It provided a limited-time waiver that gave borrowers credit for all prior payments regardless of the payment plan they were on and simplified the application process for military service members. Consequently, the approval rate has improved, with 3.3% of applications being officially approved for PSLF as of June 2023, the last available data. The approval rate as of today is likely even higher, after the administration approved batches of PSLF forgiveness in late 2023 and early 2024.

If you’re interested in pursuing this forgiveness, you can use the PSLF help tool to help guide you through the process.

Teacher loan forgiveness

Teacher loan forgiveness provides up to $17,500 in loan forgiveness to teachers who work for at least five full and consecutive academic years at a low-income school or education service agency. To qualify for the full $17,500 of loan forgiveness, teachers must work in certain high-need subjects, such as secondary mathematics, science or special education.

Perkins loan cancellation

The Perkins loan program is no longer in effect, but borrowers with existing federal Perkins loans can potentially qualify for loan cancellation based on their employment or volunteer service.

Teacher Perkins loan cancellation

Teachers can get up to 100% of their Perkins loans forgiven if they work full-time in a public or non-profit elementary or secondary school in one of the following roles:

• Teachers at schools that serve low-income families
• Special education teachers
• Teachers of high-need subjects, such as science, mathematics or foreign languages

Volunteer and employment Perkins loan cancellation

Some forms of employment or volunteer service can allow you to qualify for cancellation of some or all of your Perkins student loans. The amount of forgiveness varies based on your career or volunteer work and years of service.

Student loan discharge programs

Loan forgiveness or cancellation is typically based on your service or employment, while discharge is typically based on circumstances outside of your control. Federal loan borrowers may qualify for discharge of their existing loans through the following programs:

1. Bankruptcy discharge

It is difficult to discharge student loans through bankruptcy, but not impossible. To qualify, you must show the bankruptcy court that repaying your loans would cause you undue hardship, (meaning you couldn't maintain a minimal standard of living), the hardship will continue for several years and you've made good faith efforts to repay the loan before declaring bankruptcy.

2. Borrower defense to repayment discharge

Borrower defense to repayment discharge can apply if your college or university misled you or engaged in other misconduct and violated state laws. If you are eligible, some or all of your federal loans will be discharged. To find out if you qualify, contact your loan servicer.

3. Closed school discharge

If your college closes while you're enrolled or within 180 days after you withdrew, you may be eligible for a closed school discharge. If you qualify, your federal student loans used to pay for that program will be discharged.

4. Death discharge

With some loans, the borrower's estate is responsible for the loan even if the borrower passes away. But with federal loans, the loan is protected by death discharge. If the borrower — or in the case of Parent PLUS Loans, the student on whose behalf the PLUS Loans were taken out — dies, the loan balance is discharged.

5. False certification discharge

If a school falsely certified your eligibility for student loans — for example, if you don't have a high school diploma or a diploma equivalent or did not authorize the loan application — you could qualify for discharge of your loans.

6. Forgery discharge

Identity theft is a common problem, and college students are often targets. If your identity was stolen and fraudulent loans taken out in your name, you may qualify for discharge of your loans under the forgery discharge program.

7. Total and permanent disability discharge

If you have federal student loans and become totally and permanently disabled, you can qualify for discharge of up to 100% of your loans through total and permanent disability discharge (TPDD). Eligibility is based on documentation from one of the following sources:

• The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
• The Social Security Administration (SSA)
• Your medical provider (specifically: doctors, nurse practitioners and physicians assistants)

So far, the Biden administration has discharged $11.7 billion for almost 513,000 borrowers with a total and permanent disability. You can learn about the program's eligibility requirements through the TPDD federal student aid site.

Other student loan forgiveness programs

If you aren't eligible for a federal forgiveness or discharge program because you don't meet the eligibility requirements or because you have private student loans, there may be other ways to get help with your loans. Partial or full loan forgiveness and repayment assistance is available from several sources:

National loan repayment programs

There are national student loan repayment programs that provide money to repay your student loans in exchange for a work commitment in high-need areas or fields. Typically, these programs can be used to repay both federal and private loans. For example:

• U.S. Department of Justice Attorney Student Loan Repayment: This program provides up to $6,000 per year in student loan repayment benefits, up to a lifetime maximum of $60,000. To qualify, attorneys must be full-time employees of the Department of Justice and commit to a three-year service obligation.
• Indian Health Service (IHS) Loan Repayment: The IHS Loan Repayment program provides healthcare professionals with up to $25,000 in repayment benefits per year, up to a maximum of two years. In return, healthcare professionals must commit to working for at least two years in health facilities serving American Indian or Alaska Native communities.
• National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Loan Repayment: The NHSC Loan Repayment program is for licensed primary care clinicians, such as physicians, nurse practitioners, dentists, dental hygienists, psychologists, licensed clinical social workers and certified nurse midwives. In exchange for a two-year service commitment to work in a qualifying facility in a designated shortage area, participants can receive up to $50,000 in loan repayment assistance.
• Nurse Corps Loan Repayment: Offered through the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), the Nurse Corps Loan Repayment program repays up to 85% of unpaid student loans for registered nurses, advanced practice registered nurses and nurse faculty. The program requires a two-year service commitment, but you have the option of participating for a third year.

State and local student loan assistance programs

States are actively recruiting professionals in high-need areas, such as education, healthcare, and science and engineering. If you are willing to commit to working in designated areas for several years, you could qualify for help repaying some of your debt. For example, the following states have loan repayment assistance programs:

• New Jersey STEM Loan Redemption Program: In New Jersey, eligible professionals that work in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) can qualify for up to $2,000 per year in student loan repayment assistance, and participants can receive the award for up to four years.
• Utah Rural Physician Loan Repayment Program: Under this program, physicians in Utah that agree to work in eligible rural hospitals for at least two years can receive up to $20,000 per year in student loan repayment assistance.
• Teach for Texas Loan Repayment Assistance: Teachers that teach subjects that have designated shortages in Texas' public schools can qualify for up to $2,500 in student loan repayment for each year of service, up to a maximum of five years.

Most states operate at least one loan repayment assistance program, but they are typically limited to healthcare professionals, teachers and lawyers. To find out if you qualify for help from your state with your loans, contact your state education agency.

Debt relief tied to military or volunteer service

If you served in a branch of the military or participated in a volunteer service organization, you may qualify for assistance repaying your loans. For example:

• Army Loan Repayment: This program was designed to encourage new recruits to enlist in the Army. It provides up to $65,000 in loan repayment assistance for at least three years of honorable service.
• Army Reserve Loan Repayment: Participants in the Army Reserve can also qualify for repayment assistance for some of their outstanding student loans based on their years of service.
• AmeriCorps Loan Repayment: For each year of AmeriCorps service, you can receive up to the maximum value of the Pell Grant for that year to repay your loans. For the 2023-2024 award year, the maximum amount you can receive is $7,395.

Student loan repayment assistance from your employer

A growing number of employers are offering student loan repayment benefits to recruit and retain talented employees. According to a 2022 survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute's that focused on companies with at least 500 employees, 25% of employers currently offer student loan repayment benefits, including payment matches, debt counseling and student loan refinancing programs.

If you're eligible for student loan payments from your employer, the company will typically match your payments up to a monthly maximum. For example, they may match your payments up to $100 per month and up to $10,000 over the duration of your employment. By taking advantage of these programs, you can pay off your loans faster and save money.

Summary of Money’s How to Get Student Loan Forgiveness?

There are a surprising number of loan forgiveness and discharge programs available, including the 23 specific programs we listed above. Whether you can qualify for federal loan programs or are eligible for a state loan repayment program, exploring these options can provide you with significant relief.