Under the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program, if you teach full time for five complete and consecutive academic years in a low-income school or educational service agency, and meet other qualifications, you may be eligible for forgiveness of up to $17,500 on your Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans and your Subsidized and Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans.
If you have a Direct Consolidation Loan or a Federal Consolidation Loan, you may be eligible for forgiveness of the outstanding portion of the consolidation loan that repaid an eligible Direct Subsidized Loan, Direct Unsubsidized Loan, Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan, or Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan.
Note
Borrowers can’t receive credit toward Teacher Loan Forgiveness and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) for the same period. That means, if you seek and receive Teacher Loan Forgiveness, the five-year period of service that supported your eligibility will NOT count toward PSLF. We recommend that you consider whether you’re interested in PSLF before deciding to pursue Teacher Loan Forgiveness, because we can’t make changes once you receive forgiveness.
How to Apply
You apply for teacher loan forgiveness by submitting a completed Teacher Loan Forgiveness Application after you have completed the required five consecutive years of qualifying teaching.
The chief administrative officer of the school or educational service agency where you performed your qualifying teaching service must complete the certification section. If you are applying for forgiveness of loans that are with different loan servicers, you must submit a separate form to each of them.
All eligibility requirements that must be met are listed in Sections 7-10 of the application. Incomplete applications will be returned to you for corrections or resubmission of a new application.
If you taught at more than one school, a separate application for each school will be needed, including appropriate dates and signatures.
Processing Time
The entire process usually takes 2-3 months. You will be notified as soon as a determination is reached.
Eligibility
- You must have completed five consecutive academic years as a classroom teacher at a Title 1 School. If an application is submitted before the five years of service is completed, it cannot be processed.
- Direct Loan borrowers only: Special consideration will be given to residents of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico whose consecutive academic teaching was impacted by Hurricane Maria or Hurricane Irma. Please contact us for assistance.
- Pre-1998 Loans: As one of the eligibility criteria for the program, forgiveness is only available to a borrower that had no outstanding balance on a Direct Loan or FFEL program loan on October 1, 1998, or on the date that he or she obtained a Direct Loan or FFEL program loan after October 1, 1998. You may view your federal student loans online at StudentAid.gov.
- Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) certification: The application must be certified in Section 5 by the CAO after the 5 years of teaching are completed. The CAO is the official who has access to employment records that establish your eligibility for loan forgiveness in accordance with the requirements explained on the form, and who is authorized to verify your qualifying employment at a school or by an educational service agency. Depending on your employer, the chief administrative officer may be a superintendent, a human resources official or other school district or educational service agency official, or a principal or assistant principal. Make sure the CAO lists their title.
- Teaching Dates: The dates of teaching service must include the month, day, and year of the beginning and ending dates of your teaching service. Do not use “present”, “current”, or a future date. If you are still teaching, use the date the CAO signed the application as the ending date.
- Directory of Low-Income Schools: Your school must have been on the “Annual Directory of Designated Low-Income Schools for Teacher Cancellation Benefits (Title I list)” at least the first year you taught there. To determine if your school is on the Title I list, search the Teacher Cancellation Low Income (TCLI) Directory at StudentAid.gov/tcli. Enter your state, the year you started teaching, and the name of your school. If your school was not on the list the year you started teaching, you must have taught for 5 consecutive years after it was added to the list.
For additional details about eligibility, visit: StudentAid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/teacher.
Teacher Loan Forgiveness Forbearance
If you have not completed the five qualifying years and wish to postpone your payments until the five years are completed, and the balance of your loan(s) is less than the dollar amount of the loan forgiveness you are requesting, you may be eligible for a Teacher Loan Forgiveness Forbearance. It must be submitted each year until the five years are completed. You may then apply for Teacher Loan Forgiveness.
Your account will be approved for an administrative forbearance for 60 days beginning on the date your application is received. This forbearance is to allow time for processing. You are not required to make payments during this time, but you may do so if you choose.