PLUS Loan Forgiveness or Cancellation

Check Your Account

You can view most of your federal financial aid history, including Stafford loans, in the National Student Loan Clearinghouse System if you have a Personal Identification Number (PIN). If you don't have one, you can request one at the PIN site.

Consider Consolidation

Consolidating your PLUS Loans can help to ease the repayment of the loan. Consolidation can stretch the repayment term from 10 years to a maximum of 30 years, making the monthly impact on your cash flow much lower. Click here for PLUS Loan Consolidation.

Circumstances and Conditions for Loan Discharge

If you have taken out a PLUS Loan to help pay for your child's education, all or part of it may be cancelled (forgiven) for several reasons. You may qualify for total or partial loan forgiveness if:

• The school closed within 90 days of your child's enrollment and they were unable to finish their program of study.
• The school did not properly qualify your child's status before they began studies.
• You did not receive a refund that was due to you.
• Your signature was forged.
• The school did not properly evaluate your child's ability to benefit from the coursework before beginning studies.
• You become totally and permanently disabled.
• If you or the dependent for whom the loan was borrowed, dies
• Your loan is discharged due to bankruptcy. (Typically, student loans cannot be discharged in a bankruptcy.) Consult your legal counsel regarding your particular situation.

Your loan cannot be discharged solely because you believe that the school your child attended did at least one of the following:

• Provided poor training, had unqualified instructors, or inadequate equipment
• Did not provide job placement or other services that it promised; or
• Engaged in fraudulent activities (other than falsely certifying the loan)
• If you believe you are eligible for loan forgiveness, contact the holder of your loan.

Childcare Provider Forgiveness

The Child Care Provider Loan Forgiveness Program is a demonstration program that is intended to bring more highly trained individuals into the early child care profession and to keep those child care providers for longer periods of time. Under this program, individuals who work full-time in certain child care facilities that serve low-income families and meet other qualifications may be eligible to have up to 100 percent of their student loans forgiven.

Contact the Department of Education for more details.