Total and Permanent Disability Discharge

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Total and Permanent Disability Discharge Forms

Post-Discharge Monitoring Period*

Once your loan holder and/or TG have made a preliminary determination that you meet the requirements for a total and permanent disability discharge, your loan(s) and/or TEACH grant service obligation will be assigned (transferred) to the Department of Education (Department). The Department then reviews the certification and discharge application you provided to your loan holder to verify that your condition meets the criteria for a total and permanent disability discharge.

If the Department determines that you do not meet the criteria for a total and permanent disability discharge, the Department will notify you that your application for a total and permanent disability discharge has been denied and that your loan is due and payable under the terms of the promissory note and/or your grant service obligation must be fulfilled.

If the Department determines that you are totally and permanently disabled, the Department will notify you that your loan and/or grant service obligation is discharged; however, the loan and/or grant service obligation is then placed in a post-discharge monitoring period for 3 years after the date the Department discharged your loan or grant service obligation. During this 3-year period:

You are not required to make any payments on the loan or fulfill your TEACH grant service obligation.
You are not considered delinquent or in default on the loan. You must promptly notify the Department of any changes in address or phone number.
You must notify the Department if your annual earnings from employment exceed 100 percent of the poverty line for a family of two.
You must provide the Department, upon request, with additional documentation or information related to your eligibility for a total and permanent disability discharge.
You must not receive a new TEACH grant or loan under the Perkins or Direct Loan Program, except for a Direct Consolidation loan that does not include any loans that are in a post-discharge monitoring period.
You must return to the loan holder within 120 days the full amount of any disbursement of a federal loan you received during the post-discharge monitoring period from a loan that was made before the physician completed and certified your discharge application.

The Department will also notify you that, if at any time during the 3-year post-discharge monitoring period you do not continue to meet the eligibility requirements for a total and permanent disability discharge, the Department will reinstate your loan and/or your TEACH grant service obligation. However, you will not be required to pay any interest that accrues on the loan during the post-discharge monitoring period.

* The post-discharge monitoring period does not apply if you are a veteran and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs determines that you are unemployable due to a service-connected condition, and therefore permanently and totally disabled for the purposes of discharging your loan(s) and/or TEACH grant service obligation.