There are a variety of ways student loans can be paid off, however the requirements for payoff are quite strict and the guidelines must be met and adhered to without question. One way to pay off your student loans is if you have a total and permanent disability. The Department of Education has a very strict definition regarding what qualifies as a total and permanent disability, or TPD. To qualify under the Department’s definition, you must be unable to work or earn money due to an injury or illness that is expected to last for an indefinite period of time or expire, ie, the death of the student in question. The Department’s definition and requirements for TPD differ significantly from the standards set by agencies such as Social Security, Veterans Affairs, and most other federal agencies.

There are a few things to keep in mind when trying to get your student loans discharged this way. Appropriate creditors and guaranty agencies must first review each application; it is only after they approve the application that it can be sent to the Department of Education for further review. Please note that at any time during the review processes, you and your doctor may be contacted.

Whether you are a medical doctor or doctor of osteopathy who is licensed to practice medicine in the United States, you must describe and authorize both your injury or illness and your totally and permanently disabled condition, all on the same application. Likewise, each loan holder must receive a separate application, containing his own original signature, as well as the physician’s signature, which must be an original or a suitable photocopy; stamped signatures are not permitted.

If you were disabled as defined by the Department of Education before you received the final disbursement of any federal student loan, except consolidation loans, you do not qualify for a discharge. Injuries, illnesses and disabilities must occur before the last disbursement.

When applying for TPD, please understand that you will need to verify your income through the Internal Revenue Service. In general, income for the three years immediately following the date you became disabled must be verified.

Finally, if the Department of Education approves your TPD application, they may also review any eligibility for refunds involving payments made before the date of your disability.

Another way to get your student loans discharged is when you took out a student loan while attending a college or university that closed before you completed your studies. This also applies to federal student loans, but only if you were actively enrolled, at least part-time, when college closed and therefore unable to finish your program. You are still considered an actively enrolled student if, at the time of closure, you have an approved leave of absence. Eligibility is also a possibility if the school closed ninety days, maximum, before your withdrawal.

However, students do not qualify for withdrawals or cancellations under these circumstances if they continue to participate and complete a similar program at a different university. If you are working toward a degree comparable to the one you were seeking at the closed school, you may have to repay the withdrawal amount. Also, you don’t qualify if you finished all of the coursework but just didn’t receive a degree.

There is a chance that your loans will be canceled if the college or university you attend admits that you were not tested to see how much you could benefit from the coursework provided or that you failed the exam. Similarly, if the school did not offer facilities, classes, or programs to get you up to where you need to be, you may be eligible for an override. Similarly, if you don’t meet the physical, legal, or other requirements, but are accepted to a school or program anyway, you may be disqualified. In these cases, it doesn’t matter if you have a high school diploma or a comparable certificate, such as a GED.

You are also not eligible for a discharge of your student loans if you simply feel that the school you attended poorly educated you, employed inadequate and unqualified teachers, or offered substandard equipment. If the institution did not provide job placement or promised something else that it did not deliver, you are not eligible for any termination.

Under the Perkins Loan regulation, federal law provides that if a borrower is “providing or supervising the provision of services to high-risk children who are from low-income communities and the families of these children” (Section 674.56[b] Perkins Loan), he or she is eligible to receive a child/family services cancellation. Eligibility is also possible if you are caring for adults in a similar way. However, with adults, the services you provide should not overshadow those you offer to high-risk children.