My student loan discharge was denied

This notice

The letter, email, or account screen says your discharge application was denied. Common wording names Total and Permanent Disability, school closure, or asks for more information after a reconsideration request. Collection may restart.

That paper is a discharge decision. It is not a SAVE-plan ending notice that tells you to switch repayment plans. It is not a Notice of Proposed Wage Garnishment or a Treasury Offset letter.

This guide’s matchable notice is a denied discharge for closed school or total and permanent disability. The clearest official how-to for what to do after a denial is the TPD path on StudentAid.gov. The Discharge Application: Total and Permanent Disability (PDF) states that if Federal Student Aid determines you are not totally and permanently disabled, it will notify you why, your loans return to the status they had when you applied, and your loan holder will tell you when payments resume. The same PDF says you may ask for a re-evaluation within 12 months of that denial notice by sending additional information about your disabling condition that was not in the first application. After 12 months, you must submit a new application.

The Federal Student Aid page Total and Permanent Disability discharge (also reached from StudentAid.gov/disabilitydischarge) is the public entry point for that program. The CFPB page What happens to my student loans if I die or become disabled? summarizes that federal loans may be discharged if you meet Education’s TPD rules, and that an approval based on SSA or medical certification can include a three-year monitoring period. Private loans follow different rules.

A closed-school denial is a different eligibility story. The CFPB page My school closed and now I can’t graduate. What happens to my student loans? explains teach-out choices and when a federal closed-school discharge may apply. The Loan Discharge Application: School Closure (PDF) and the Closed school discharge page set the eligibility frame. Those materials do not publish a TPD-style 12-month re-evaluation. If your denial is closed-school, answer the stated reason with records, contact the servicer in writing, and use feedback or a complaint if needed. Do not treat a closed-school denial as if it automatically inherited the TPD re-evaluation clock.

Recent CFPB student-loan narratives describe discharge and forgiveness fights with MOHELA, Nelnet, Aidvantage (Maximus), EdFinancial, and others. Some people say a TPD or school-related discharge was denied, stalled, or ignored after they sent medical or school records. Those narratives are outcome stories, not statute. Use the StudentAid PDF and Ask-CFPB pages for the steps.

Borrowers on student-loan and personal-finance forums often trade tips after a denial letter. Those posts are not law. Keep the denial date, the reason quoted in the letter, and every enclosure list.

Official path

1. Save the denial letter or screen, the application or case number, and any list of missing documents. Circle the denial-notice date. That date starts the 12-month TPD re-evaluation window when the letter is a TPD denial.

2. Read the denial reason against the official TPD discharge application PDF if the paper names total and permanent disability, or against the closed-school discharge materials if it names school closure. Match the quoted reason to one gap you can fix with new records.

3. Request a TPD re-evaluation in writing when the denial is TPD and you are still inside 12 months of the notice. The PDF says to provide additional information about your disabling condition that was not in the prior application. Send it to U.S. Department of Education – TPD Servicing, P.O. Box 300010, Greenville, TX 75403, or use the fax and phone listed on the form (fax 540-212-2415; phone 1-888-303-7818). Keep a copy and proof of delivery. After 12 months, file a new TPD application instead.

4. Answer a closed-school denial with the enrollment, withdrawal, teach-out, or campus facts the letter disputed. Use your servicer’s written channel and the Federal Student Aid Feedback Center. Do not claim a formal closed-school appeal that the official pages do not describe.

5. Resume payments when your loan holder says repayment restarts, unless you have a separate written forbearance or other status. The TPD PDF ties denial to returning to the prior loan status and to the holder’s payment date.

6. Submit a complaint at Submit a complaint if the denial reason, loan list, or payment restart still mismatches your records after you sent the new documents. Attach the denial, your re-evaluation or follow-up letter, and the delivery proof.

People in CFPB narratives often wait for another phone promise after a denial. The official TPD form wins that conflict for disability denials: put the new medical or VA/SSA proof in writing inside 12 months, then keep the receipt.

What people reported

Often helps

• Sending new VA, SSA, or medical documentation that was missing from the first TPD file, with the denial date and case number on the cover page, inside 12 months.
• Quoting the exact denial reason in one short paragraph, then listing the new enclosure that answers it.
• Filing a CFPB complaint with the denial letter and the re-evaluation package when the servicer or TPD desk still ignores the new proof.

Often fails

• Calling only the general servicing line and never mailing or faxing the new disability records to the TPD servicing address on the form.
• Resending the same packet with no new information after a TPD denial. The PDF requires new information for re-evaluation.
• Treating a SAVE-end or garnishment paper as if it were a discharge denial, or stopping payments without written payment instructions.

Template

[DATE]

U.S. Department of Education – TPD Servicing
P.O. Box 300010
Greenville, TX 75403

Re: Request for re-evaluation of TPD discharge application, denial dated [DENIAL DATE], [APPLICATION OR CASE NUMBER]

I received your notice dated [DENIAL DATE] stating that my Total and Permanent Disability discharge application was denied. The stated reason was: [QUOTE DENIAL REASON].

Within 12 months of that notice, I am requesting a re-evaluation under the instructions in the Discharge Application: Total and Permanent Disability on StudentAid.gov. I am enclosing new information about my disabling condition that was not included in my prior application: [LIST NEW VA / SSA / MEDICAL DOCUMENTS].

Please confirm in writing that you received this re-evaluation request, and send your written decision. My loan holder is [SERVICER NAME], account ending [LAST FOUR].

I am not writing about a SAVE-plan change or wage garnishment. This letter is only about the TPD discharge denial.

Enclosed are copies of [DENIAL LETTER / NEW DOCUMENTATION], not originals.

[FULL NAME]
[ADDRESS]
[PHONE]
[EMAIL]
[SSN LAST FOUR IF THE FORM REQUIRES IT]

Enclosures: [LIST]

Stop here if…

• The paper says the SAVE Plan has ended and tells you to select a new repayment plan; use the SAVE-plan-ended guide.
• You received a Notice of Proposed Wage Garnishment, administrative wage garnishment, or Treasury Offset / tax-refund offset papers; use the wage-garnishment guide and those deadlines instead.
• You were served a lawsuit, summons, or complaint about these loans, or the loans were never yours; answer the court on its deadline or use IdentityTheft.gov as the facts require.

FAQ

Is this the same as a SAVE-plan ending notice?

No. A SAVE-end notice tells you to pick a new repayment plan, often with a 90-day clock. This page is about a written denial of a discharge application for total and permanent disability or school closure.

Is this the same as wage garnishment or Treasury offset?

No. A Notice of Proposed Wage Garnishment or a tax-refund offset is a collections paper with its own deadlines. A discharge denial ends a forgiveness request and may restart ordinary repayment.

I was denied for TPD. Do I have to start a brand-new application?

Not if you act inside the window on the official form. The StudentAid.gov TPD discharge application PDF says you may ask for a re-evaluation within 12 months of the denial notice by providing additional information about your disabling condition that was not in the first file. After 12 months, you must submit a new application.

My closed-school discharge was denied. Is there the same 12-month re-evaluation?

The official closed-school application PDF explains eligibility and when an application may be denied. It does not describe a TPD-style 12-month re-evaluation. Use the denial reason, send any missing records your servicer asked for, and use the Feedback Center or a CFPB complaint if the answer still mismatches the facts. Do not invent an appeal that the pages do not publish.

Should I stop paying while I fight the denial?

The TPD application PDF says that if you are denied, you must repay under your promissory note and your loan holder will tell you when payments resume. Keep written proof of any forbearance or payment instructions you receive.