Federal Student Aid 

STAFFORD LOAN 

FORGIVENESS PROGRAM 

FOR TEACHERS 

For loans made under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan 

(Direct Loan) Program and the Federal Family Education 

Loan (FFEL) Program.

®
Overview 

The Stafford Loan Forgiveness Program for Teachers is 

intended to encourage individuals to enter and remain 

in the teaching profession. Under this program, you 

may receive loan forgiveness of up to $17,500 if you 

teach for five consecutive academic years in schools or 

educational service agencies* that serve low-income 

families, and meet other requirements. 

*An educational service agency is a regional public multiservice
 

agency (not a private organization) that is authorized by state
 

law to develop, manage, and provide services or programs to
 

local education agencies, such as public school districts.
 

General Requirements 

To be eligible to participate in the Stafford Loan 

Forgiveness Program for Teachers, you must 

meet the following requirements: 

• You are a new borrower. You are considered a new 

borrower if you did not have an outstanding balance on 

a Direct or FFELSM Program loan on Oct. 1, 1998, or on 

the date you obtained a Direct or FFEL Program loan after 

Oct. 1, 1998. 

• You have an eligible Stafford Loan that you obtained
 

through the Direct Loan or FFEL Programs, or you
 

have a Direct Loan or FFEL consolidation loan that
 

you received to repay an eligible Stafford Loan.
 

• You were employed for at least five consecutive, 

complete school years as a full-time teacher in a lowincome elementary or secondary school (public or private) 

or educational service agency. To find out whether 

your school or educational service agency qualifies as 

low-income, visit www.studentaid.ed.gov/tc or call 

1-800-4-FED-AID. Note that all schools operated by 

the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) are considered 

low-income schools for this program. 

NOTE: For teaching at an eligible elementary or 

secondary school to count toward the required five 

consecutive complete academic years, at least one 

of your five years of qualifying teaching service must 

have been after the 1997–98 academic year. For 

teaching at an eligible educational service agency to 

count toward the required five consecutive complete

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 		

	 	 	 	 	 		

	 	 	

		 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

 

		 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 		

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 		

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

		 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 		

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 		

	 	 	 	
academic years, the consecutive five-year period 

must include qualifying service at an eligible 

educational service agency performed after the 

2007–08 academic year. 

• You are not in default on the loan for which you
 

are requesting forgiveness (unless you have made
 

satisfactory repayment arrangements with the holder
 

of the loan).
 

• You have not received a benefit for the same teaching 

service through the AmeriCorps program or the Public 

Service Loan Forgiveness Program. 

• You received the loan for which you are requesting
 

forgiveness before the end of your fifth year of
 

qualifying teaching.
 

Forgiveness Amount 

You may receive up to $17,500 in loan forgiveness 

if you were 

• a highly qualified full-time mathematics or science teacher 

in a secondary school, or a highly qualified full-time 

teacher of mathematics or science to secondary students 

at an educational service agency; or 

• a highly qualified full-time special education teacher 

who taught children with disabilities at an elementary 

or secondary school or educational service agency. In 

addition, you must have taught children with disabilities 

that corresponded to your area of special education 

training, and you must have demonstrated knowledge 

and teaching skills in the content areas of the elementary 

or secondary school curriculum. 

You may receive up to $5,000 in loan forgiveness if 

o a full-time elementary school teacher at an 

elementary school or educational service agency 

who demonstrated knowledge and teaching skills 

in reading, writing, mathematics, and other areas of 

the elementary school curriculum; or 

o a full-time secondary school teacher or teacher of 

secondary students at an educational service agency 

who taught in a subject area relevant to your 

academic major; or

• your five years of qualifying teaching service began
 

before Oct. 30, 2004, and you were
 

		 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	

		 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	

		 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 		

	 	 	 	 	

	 	

		 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 		

	 	 	 	 	

		 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 		

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

			 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 		

			 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	
		 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 		

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 		

	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	

• your five years of qualifying teaching service began 

on or after Oct. 30, 2004, and you were a highly 

qualified full-time elementary or secondary school 

teacher at a low-income elementary or secondary 

school or educational service agency. 

NOTE: The above amounts represent the 

maximum amounts in loan forgiveness that 

you may receive on your eligible Direct and 

FFEL Program loans combined. The chief 

administrative officer(s) of your school(s) or 

educational service agency(ies) will determine 

whether you meet all applicable requirements 

for the appropriate loan forgiveness amount. 

Applying for Loan Forgiveness 

You must complete a Teacher Loan Forgiveness 

Application and return it to the servicer(s) of the 

loan(s) for which you are requesting forgiveness. 

To obtain an application, contact your loan 

servicer(s). If you are applying for forgiveness of 

more than one loan and your loans have different 

servicers, you must submit a separate application 

to each servicer. For information on your loans, 

including the name(s) of your loan servicer(s), 

visit the National Student Loan Data SystemSM 

at www.nslds.ed.gov. 

The chief administrative officer(s) of the school(s) 

or educational service agency(ies) where you 

performed your qualifying teaching service must 

certify on the application that your teaching 

service met the requirements for loan forgiveness 

for all five years. The chief administrative officer is 

an official (such as a principal, assistant principal, 

or superintendent) who has access to employment 

records that establish your eligibility for loan 

forgiveness, and who is authorized to verify 

your qualifying employment. 

If you need more than one chief administrative 

officer’s certification, submit all the certifications 

with your completed loan forgiveness application.
 

	 	 	 	 	 	 		

	 	 	 	 	 	 		

	 	 	 	 	 	

Spread the word about 

this program. 

Please share this information with other teachers 

who may be eligible for loan forgiveness. 

You can download this brochure at: 

www.studentaid.ed.gov/tc.

Spread the word about 

this program. 

©2010 Getty Images 
 

	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 		

	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 		

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 		

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	

 

	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 	 	 	 	 	 	

	 		

For More Information 

For detailed information about the eligibility 

requirements of the Stafford Loan Forgiveness 

Program for Teachers as well as information 

about teacher loan cancellation benefits for 

Perkins Loan borrowers, visit our Cancellation 

and Deferment Options for Teachers Web page 

at www.studentaid.ed.gov/tc. 

For a complete list of all cancellation, 

discharge, and forgiveness provisions (including 

forgiveness for public service employees), visit 

www.studentaid.ed.gov/repaying. 

For more details about other student aid 

programs for which you may be eligible: 

• Visit the Federal Student Aid website at 

www.studentaid.ed.gov or 

• Call our Federal Student Aid Information Center 

at 1-800-4-FED-AID (TTY 1-800-730-8913). 

For questions about your teaching service, 

contact the chief administrative officer of the 

school or educational service agency that has 

employed you. 

Printed: December 2010, ©2010 Punchstoc k

®