Under the Higher Education Act, individuals who are totally and permanently disabled (TPD) are eligible to have their federal student loans forgiven. Many eligible borrowers have not been granted the relief they deserve.
FOIA Requests
- Total and Permanent Disability Matching Programs - November 21, 2019
- Total and Permanent Disability SSA Matches - April 5, 2021
Total and Permanent Disability Matching Programs - November 21, 2019
Seeking: Data on the Department’s implementation of the TPD regulation for borrowers who were identified as eligible for relief pursuant to matching agreements with the VA and SSA.
Documents
On January 29, 2020, the Department provided a final response. The documents are available here.
Total and Permanent Disability SSA Matches - April 5, 2021
Seeking: On April 5, 2021, Student Defense submitted a request for documents showing (1) The total number of borrowers who have been positively identified as eligible for a TPD discharge since the SSA Process started in 2016, including (a) the total number who have received a TPD discharge, and the total dollar value of their discharged federal student loan debt and (b) the total number who have not received a TPD discharge, and the total dollar value of their outstanding federal student loan debt; (2) the total number of SSA matches for whom the Department does not have a valid address on file; and (3) the total number of SSA matches whose SSA match notification letters have been returned to sender.
On August 24, 2021, Student Defense submitted a new request for updated data.
Documents
On May 24, 2021, the Department provided a final response to the first request. The responsive data is available here. On June 21, 2021 Student Defense sent a letter to Richard Cordray, Chief Operating Officer of Federal Student Aid, seeking answers to questions raised by this data, and renewing Student Defense’s call for automatic TPD relief and seeking an update on the status of its April 19, 2021 Section 553(e) Petition.
On July 28, 2022, the Department provided a final response to the second request. The responsive data is available here.