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Total and Permanent Disability Discharge

Eligibility Requirements*

The following are general eligibility requirements for federal student loan borrowers and TEACH grant recipients seeking a total and permanent disability discharge:

  • You (or your representative) must complete and submit a Loan Discharge Application: Total and Permanent Disability to:
    • For a loan discharge, your loan holder (generally, a lender(s) or the U.S. Department of Education [the Department]).
    • For a discharge of a grant service obligations, the Department.
  • The loan discharge application must include certification by a doctor of medicine or osteopathy, legally authorized to practice in a state, that you are totally and permanently disabled. For loan discharge purposes, totally and permanently disabled means you are unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment that can be expected to result in death, has lasted for a continuous period of at least 60 months, or can be expected to last for a continuous period of at least 60 months. You must submit the application to your loan holder within 90 days of the date the physician certifies the application.
  • If the Department makes a determination that you meet the requirements for a total and permanent disability discharge, your loan or grant service obligation is discharged and will be placed in a post-discharge monitoring period. This 3-year period begins on the day after the Department approves the discharge. If you meet one of the following conditions within the post-discharge monitoring period, your loan and/or grant service obligation will be reinstated:
    • You receive a new TEACH grant or loan under the Perkins or Direct Loan Programs (with the exception of a Consolidation loan that does not include any loans that are in a post-discharge monitoring period).
    • Your annual earnings from employment exceed 100% of the poverty line for a family of two.
  • If you apply for discharge of a Consolidation loan, you must meet the requirements for total and permanent disability discharge for all of the loans that make up that Consolidation loan, including any non-FFELP loans such as loans through the Perkins or Health Education Assistance Loan programs.

* If a you are a veteran, you must complete only sections 1 and 3 of the Loan Discharge Application: Total and Permanent Disability and submit it to your loan holder along with documentation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs showing that you have been determined to be unemployable due to a service-connected condition. If the Department of Education determines that you qualify to have your loan and/or grant service obligation discharged, you will not be placed in a 3-year post-discharge monitoring period.

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