What are the eligibility requirements?

• You must have taught full-time at an eligible low-income elementary or secondary school for at least five consecutive complete academic years (at least one of which must have been after the 1997-98 academic year). Contact us if you need any information regarding incomplete academic years
• You must be a new borrower. You are considered a new borrower if you did not have an outstanding Direct Loan or FFEL program loan balance on October 1, 1998, or on the date you obtained a Direct Loan or FFEL program loan after October 1, 1998.
• The loans for which you are seeking forgiveness must have been disbursed on or after October 1st, 1998
• The loan(s) for which you are seeking forgiveness must have been disbursed prior to the end of the fifth qualifying year of teaching service.
• You are not in default on the loan(s) for which you are seeking forgiveness
• The loan(s) for which you are receiving forgiveness must be a Direct Subsidized or Unsubsidized Loan, a Federal Subsidized or Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, or a Direct Consolidation Loan or Federal Consolidation Loan that repaid an eligible Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized Loan or Federal Subsidized/Unsubsidized Stafford Loan (up to the amount of those eligible loans that were repaid through the Consolidation Loan), AND
• You cannot have received benefit for the same teaching service under Subtitle D of Title I of the National Community Service Act of 1990.