🎓 Closed School Loan Discharge

Standing federal discharge program for borrowers whose school closed while they were enrolled, or shortly after they withdrew.

Borrowers whose school closed while enrolled, or within the program's post-withdrawal window, who meet the standard eligibility conditions.

Full discharge of the federal student loan balance tied to the closed school

None

A federal court delayed the effective date of updated 2023 regulations covering closed-school and borrower-defense discharges, so as of the source page's last update the Department is still processing applications under the earlier, pre-2023 rules while that litigation is unresolved. When the Department has sufficient records to confirm eligibility on its own, the discharge is applied automatically about one year after the school's closure date, though a borrower can also apply directly to get it sooner. Borrowers who finish their program through an approved 'teach-out' arrangement at another school after their original school closes are excluded from this discharge, since they completed their education rather than losing it.