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Office of Student Loan Accounts and Collections

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You may be eligible to cancel all or part of your loan if you are working in a field eligible for cancellation. Eligible fields are listed below. Click on the type of cancellation to learn more about eligibility requirements. The Student Loan Accounts Office will determine your eligibility based on your job description.

Note regarding eligibility: ÏòÈÕ¿ûÊÓƵ does not count residencies as qualifying for cancellation. Because most residencies have an educational component and are optional rather than required, we have determined that they are ineligible for cancellation purposes. Eligibility would begin when the borrower is working full-time as a non-resident employee.

All cancellations are over a five-year period, unless otherwise noted. Each year, a portion of the original principal balance is canceled and the remaining balance is deferred in anticipation of another year of partial cancelation in the future.

Cancellation forms are completed on an annual basis. The cancellation forms must be certified by your employer (HR or a supervisor), the school official, the commanding officer or a Peace Corps officer, as applicable.

• Cancellation request form
• Supplemental form for special education teachers
• Supplemental form for early education/Head Start
• Supplemental form for child/family services

Teacher — low income

A school must cancel up to 100% of the outstanding balance on a borrower’s Perkins loan if a borrower is teaching full-time in a low-income public or other nonprofit elementary or secondary school, or by teaching full-time for an educational service agency (ESA) listed on the

For cancellation purposes, a borrower employed by an ESA may be teaching

• At a location operated by the ESA (such as a stand-alone school that serves students from many different school districts), or
• In a conventional elementary and secondary school (such as a vocational education teacher employed by the ESA to teach courses in several different secondary schools).

If a borrower is teaching at a school that is on the list one year but not in subsequent years, the borrower may continue to teach in that school and remain eligible to receive a cancellation for service in that school.

Teacher — shortage field

A school must cancel up to 100% of the outstanding balance on a borrower’s Perkins loan for a full-time teacher in a field of expertise that is determined by a state education agency to have a shortage of qualified teachers in that state. A borrower who is teaching in science, mathematics, foreign language, or bilingual education qualifies for cancellation even if the state has not designated the subject area in which he or she is teaching as a shortage area. For a borrower to be considered as teaching in a field of expertise that has a shortage of teachers, the majority of classes taught must be in that field of expertise.

Teacher — special education

A school must cancel up to 100% of the outstanding balance on a borrower’s Perkins loan for a full-time special education teacher of infants, toddlers, children, or youth with disabilities. The teaching service must be performed in a public or other nonprofit elementary or secondary school system.

A person performing one of the following services is considered a teacher if the service is part of the educational curriculum for handicapped children:

• Speech and Language Pathology and Audiology;
• Physical Therapy;
• Occupational Therapy;
• Psychological and Counseling Services; or
• Recreational Therapy

 

The borrower must be licensed, certified, or registered by the appropriate state education agency for that area in which he or she is providing related special educational services.

Supplemental form for special education teachers

Nurse/medical technician

Schools must cancel up to 100% of a Perkins Loan if the borrower has served full-time (as determined by your employer) as a nurse or medical technician providing health care services. The borrower must provide health care services directly to patients.

For purposes of cancellation, a nurse is a licensed practical nurse, a registered nurse, or other individual who is licensed by the appropriate state agency to provide nursing services.

A medical technician is an allied health professional, working in fields such as therapy, dental hygiene, medical technology, or nutrition, who is certified, registered, or licensed by the appropriate state agency in the state in which he or she provides health care services.

An allied health professional is someone who assists, facilitates, or complements the work of physicians and other specialists in the health care system.

Common positions that qualify for cancellation as a “medical technician” include, but are not limited to, Physical Therapists, Physician Assistants, Emergency Medical Technicians, Medical Technologists, and Speech Pathologists in non-school settings.

Firefighters

A school must cancel up to 100% of the outstanding balance on a borrower’s Perkins loan for service as a full-time firefighter, beginning on or after August 14, 2008. A firefighter is an individual who is employed by a federal, state, or local firefighting agency to extinguish destructive fires or provide firefighting related services such as conducting search and rescue, providing hazardous materials (HAZMAT) mitigation, or providing community disaster support and, as a first responder, providing emergency medical services.

Early intervention

A school must cancel up to 100% of the outstanding balance on a borrower’s Perkins loan if the borrower has been employed full-time as a qualified professional provider or early intervention services in a public or other nonprofit program. “Early intervention services” are provided to infants and toddlers with disabilities.

Child or family services

A school must cancel up to 100% of the outstanding balance on a borrower’s Perkins loan for service as a full-time employee in a public or private nonprofit child or family service agency. To qualify for cancellation, the borrower must be providing services directly and exclusively to high-risk children from low-income communities and the families of these children, or supervising the provision of such services. Any services provided to the children’s families must be secondary to the services provided to the children.

For purposes of this cancellation, high-risk children are defined as individuals under the age of 21 who are low-income or at risk of abuse or neglect; have been abused or neglected; have serious emotional, mental, or behavioral disturbances; reside in placements outside their homes; or are involved in the juvenile justice system.

Low income communities are communities in which there is a high concentration of children eligible to be counted under Title I rules.

The types of services a borrower may provide to qualify include child care and child development services; health, mental health, and psychological services; and social services.

*The Department has determined that an elementary or secondary school system, a hospital, or an institution of higher education is not an eligible employing agency.

Supplemental Form for Child/Family Services

Law enforcement

A school must cancel up to 100% of the outstanding balance on a borrower’s Perkins loan for a full-time law enforcement or corrections officer for an eligible employing agency. The borrower’s position must be essential to the agency’s primary mission.

A local, state, or federal agency is an eligible employing agency if it is publicly funded and its activities pertain to crime prevention, control, or reduction, or to the enforcement of the criminal law. Such activities include but are not limited to:

• Police efforts to prevent, control, or reduce crime or to apprehend criminals (Police Officers)
• Activities of courts and related agencies having criminal jurisdiction (District Attorneys, Assistant District Attorneys)
• Activities of corrections, probation, or parole authorities (Corrections Officers, Probation Officers, Parole Officers)
• The prevention, control, or reduction of juvenile delinquency or narcotic addiction

Agencies that are primarily responsible for enforcement of civil, regulator, or administrative laws are ineligible. However, because the activities of many divisions and bureaus within local, state, and federal agencies pertain to crime prevention, control, or reduction, or to the enforcement of criminal law, a sub-unit within a larger, non-law enforcement agency may qualify as a law enforcement agency for purposes of a law enforcement cancellation.

For the borrower’s position to be considered essential to the agency’s primary mission, he or she must be a full-time employee of an eligible agency and a sworn law enforcement or corrections officer or person whose principal responsibilities are unique to the criminal justice system and are essential in the performance of the agency’s primary mission. The agency must be able to document the employee’s functions. Examples of positions that are considered essential to a law enforcement agency’s primary mission and that are unique to the criminal justice system include prosecuting attorneys whose primary responsibilities are to prosecute criminal cases on behalf of law enforcement agencies, forensic scientists, and latent fingerprint examiners.

Individuals whose official responsibilities are supportive, such as those that involve typing, filing, accounting, office procedures, purchasing, stock control, food service, transportation, or building, equipment, or grounds maintenance are not eligible for the law enforcement or correction officer loan cancellation, regardless of where these functions are performed.

Public defender

Full-time attorneys employed in federal public defender organizations or community defender organizations are eligible for public defender cancellations.

For purposes of cancellation:

• A community defender organization is a defender organization established in accordance with section 3006A(g)(2)(B) of Title 18, United States Code; and
• A federal public defender organization is a defender organization established in accordance with section 3006A(g)(2)(A) of Title 18, United States Code.

Cancellations are for eligible services on or after August 14, 2008, regardless of whether information on the expansion of this category appears on the borrower’s promissory note.

Military service

A school must cancel up to 100% of the outstanding balance of a Perkins loan for a full year of active duty service in the U.S. armed forces in an area of hostilities or an area of imminent danger that qualifies for special pay (see sidebar). The “U.S. armed forces” are the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard.

The borrower’s commanding officer must certify the borrower’s service dates. Active duty service for less than a complete year or a fraction of a year beyond a complete year does not qualify. A complete year of service is 12 consecutive months.

Areas that qualify for hostile fire/imminent danger pay are listed on the Web through the . Note that the borrower does not have to serve the full 12 months of active duty service in such an area to qualify for the cancellation. If a borrower is on active duty in such an area for any part of a month, that month counts towards the borrower’s eligibility for a military cancellation.

The cancellation rate is the standard progression for up to 100% cancellation: 15% for the first and second year of qualifying service, 20% for the third and fourth year of qualifying service, and 30% for the fifth year of qualifying service.

Early childhood education and Head Start

A school must cancel up to 100% of a Perkins Loan if the borrower has served

• As a full-time staff member in a Head Start program; or
• as a full-time staff member of a pre-kindergarten or child care program that is licensed or regulated by the state.

For purposes of these early education cancellations

• “Head Start” is a preschool program carried out under the Head Start Act (subchapter B, chapter 8 of Title VI of Pub. L. 97–35, the Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, as amended; formerly authorized under section 222(a)(1) of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964). (42 U.S.C. 2809(a)(1)).
• A pre-kindergarten program is a state-funded program that serves children from birth through age six and addresses the children’s cognitive (including language, early literacy, and early mathematics), social, emotional, and physical development.
• A child care program is a program that is licensed or regulated by the state and provides child care services for fewer than 24 hours per day per child, unless care in excess of 24 consecutive hours is needed due to the nature of the parents’ work.
• A full-time staff member is someone who is regularly employed in a full-time professional capacity to carry out the educational part of the early education program.

For the pre-kindergarten and child care program cancellation, the period of service must include August 14, 2008, or begin on or after that date.

In order to qualify for cancellation, the early education program in which the borrower serves must operate for a complete academic year or its equivalent. The borrower’s salary may not exceed the salary of a comparable employee working in the local educational agency of the area served by the early education program.

The cancellation rate is 15% of the original loan principal, plus the interest on the unpaid balance accruing during the year of qualifying service for each complete academic year or its equivalent of full-time teaching service.

An official of the early education program should sign the borrower’s cancellation form to certify the borrower’s service.

Supplemental Form for Early Education/Head Start

Volunteer service

Schools must cancel up to 70% of a Perkins Loan if the borrower has served as a Peace Corps or AmeriCorps VISTA (under Title I, Part A of the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973) volunteer. An authorized official of the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps VISTA program must sign the borrower’s cancellation form to certify the borrower’s service.

AmeriCorps volunteers do not qualify for this cancellation unless their volunteer service is with AmeriCorps VISTA. An AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer may only qualify for this cancellation if the AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer elects not to receive a national service education award for his or her volunteer service. The AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer must provide appropriate documentation showing that the volunteer has declined the AmeriCorps national service education award.

Schools apply cancellation for volunteer service in the following increments:

• 15% of the original principal loan amount—plus any interest that accrued during the year—for each of the first and second 12-month periods of service; and
• 20% of the original principal loan amount—plus any interest that accrued during the year—for each of the third and fourth 12-month periods of service.

For Peace Corps Volunteers, the 12-month periods of service include any pre-enrollment training the volunteer receives at the Peace Corps post.

Faculty member at a tribal college or university

A school must cancel up to 100% of the outstanding balance on a borrower’s Perkins loan for service as a full-time faculty members at Tribal colleges or universities, beginning on or after August 14, 2008.

Speech pathologist (at a Title I-eligible school)

A school must cancel up to 100% of the outstanding balance on a borrower’s Perkins loan for full-time employment as a speech pathologist in a Title I school, beginning on or after August 14, 2008. A speech pathologist is someone who evaluates or treats disorders that affect a person’s speech; language; cognition; voice; swallowing and the rehabilitative or corrective treatment of physical or cognitive deficits/disorders resulting in difficulty with communication, swallowing, or both.

The borrower must have earned a master’s degree and be working exclusively with .

Librarian

A school must cancel up to 100% of the outstanding balance on a borrower’s Perkins loan for full-time employment as librarian in a Title I school, beginning on or after August 14, 2008.  The librarian must have a master’s degree in library or information science. The librarian must work in an elementary or secondary school that is eligible for Title I assistance; or must work in a public library that serves a local school district that contains one or more .