The short answer is yes: You can qualify for 90 percent disabled veteran student loan forgiveness with a 90% VA rating; however, it must be based on Total Disability Individual Unemployability (TDIU).
If you have a 90% scheduler VA rating, you do not qualify for the disabled veteran student loan forgiveness program.
Click HERE to read the TPD Discharge Program Frequently Asked Questions.
- Student Loan Forgiveness for Veterans: What is the Disabled Veteran Student Loan Forgiveness Program?
- VA Disability Student Loan Forgiveness: Who Qualifies for Disabled Veteran Student Loan Forgiveness?
- Am I Eligible for 90 Percent Disabled Veteran Student Loan Forgiveness?
- Do You Deserve a VA Rating Increase?
- What are the Benefits of Disabled Veteran Student Loan Forgiveness?
- How Do I Apply for Disabled Veteran Student Loan Forgiveness?
- What Happens If I Contact the TPD Discharge Team?
- About the Author
Student Loan Forgiveness for Veterans: What is the Disabled Veteran Student Loan Forgiveness Program?
The Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) Discharge Program, also known as the “disabled veteran student loan forgiveness program,” relieves eligible disabled veterans from having to repay a William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program loan, Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loan, and/or Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins Loan) Program loan or complete a TEACH Grant service obligation based on a total and permanent disability rating.
Eligible veterans must complete a TPD discharge application and send it, along with any required documentation of your eligibility for discharge, to Nelnet, the TPD discharge servicer.
The TPD discharge application applies to ALL your federal student loans and/or TEACH Grant service obligations.
You can have all your federal student loan debt discharged overnight.
We’ve helped hundreds of disabled veterans take advantage of this incredible, life-changing program!
VA Disability Student Loan Forgiveness: Who Qualifies for Disabled Veteran Student Loan Forgiveness?
For VA disability student loan forgiveness, there are three ways to qualify for the student loan forgiveness:
- #1. You have a 100% scheduler service-connected disability rating, OR
- #2. You have a 100% permanent and total VA disability rating, OR
- #3. You are totally disabled based on an individual unemployability rating (TDIU).
During the online application process, you’ll also need to provide a copy of your VA benefits verification letter; you can download a copy from VA.gov.
Am I Eligible for 90 Percent Disabled Veteran Student Loan Forgiveness?
Yes, you can qualify for the disabled veteran student loan forgiveness program with a 90% VA disability rating; however, it must be based 90 percent based on Total Disability Individual Unemployability (TDIU).
If you have a 90% scheduler VA rating, you do not qualify for the disabled veteran student loan forgiveness program.
Do You Deserve a VA Rating Increase?
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What are the Benefits of Disabled Veteran Student Loan Forgiveness?
#1. Benefit: All veteran student loan debt wiped clean, potentially saving you hundreds of thousands of dollars overnight!
#2. Benefit: Previous loan payments received on or after the effective date of the VA’s disability determination may be returned to the veteran.
#3. Benefit: No federal tax on TPD discharges of a loan approved from Jan 1, 2018, through Dec 31, 2025.
Please note that loan amounts discharged due to TPD may still be considered as income for state tax purposes.
If you receive a TPD discharge of a federal student loan, you may want to consult with your state tax office or a tax professional before you file your state tax return.
How Do I Apply for Disabled Veteran Student Loan Forgiveness?
There are two ways to apply for the Disabled Veteran Student Loan Forgiveness Program:
- By phone or email
- By applying online
For the first option, you can contact the TPD Discharge Team at:
Phone: 1-888-303-7818
Email: [email protected]
Office Hours:
Monday – Friday 8:00am – 8:00pm (ET)
For the second option, you can start an online application HERE.
What Happens If I Contact the TPD Discharge Team?
Please note you are not required to contact the disability discharge team by phone or email.
However, if you do, here’s the actions they take:
- First, they will provide you with the information you need to apply for a TPD discharge.
- Second, they will review their records and identify your federal student loans and/or TEACH Grant service obligation that may qualify for a TPD discharge.
- Finally, they will contact your loan holders and instruct them to suspend collection activity on your loans for a period of up to 120 days. This means that during the 120-day period you will not be required to make payments on your loans.
The suspension of collection activity will give you time to complete the TPD discharge application and return it to them for processing.
If they do not receive your application within the 120-day period, your loan holders will resume collection activity on your loans, and you will again be required to make payments.
About the Author
Brian Reese
Brian Reese is one of the top VA disability benefits experts in the world and bestselling author of You Deserve It: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Veteran Benefits You’ve Earned (Second Edition).
Brian’s frustration with the VA claim process led him to create VA Claims Insider, which provides disabled veterans with tips, strategies, and lessons learned to win their VA disability compensation claim, faster, even if they’ve already filed, been denied, gave up, or don’t know where to start.
As the founder of VA Claims Insider and CEO of Military Disability Made Easy, he has helped serve more than 10 million military members and veterans since 2013 through free online educational resources.
He is a former active duty Air Force officer with extensive experience leading hundreds of individuals and multi-functional teams in challenging international environments, including a combat tour to Afghanistan in 2011 supporting Operation ENDURING FREEDOM.
Brian is a Distinguished Graduate of Management from the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO, and he holds an MBA from Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business, Stillwater, OK, where he was a National Honor Scholar (Top 1% of Graduate School class).
