"During that three-year process, tens of thousands of people who are initially approved for that discharge have their loans reinstated," says Allison Bawden of the U.S. "The irony is that you have to work really hard to prove that you're unable to work," says Persis Yu.Īfter being approved for discharge, Drew Lehman and Denise are now in this monitoring period, doing their best not to fail out. ![]() ![]() Persis Yu of the National Consumer Law Center The irony is that you have to work really hard to prove that you're unable to work. Then one day in 2016, Denise was sitting in her doctor's office, in Queens, New York, waiting to be called in. In that time, she qualified for Social Security Disability Insurance, but she struggled to pay down her federal student loans. A department official says the department has made incremental improvements to the process since 2016: "We continue to look for ways to make the process easier to navigate for disabled student loan borrowers, while maintaining the integrity of the taxpayer dollars associated with the discharges."ĭenise used her loans to help pay for a bachelor's degree in psychology, and almost a decade passed after her accident before she learned she was eligible for loan discharge. But new data obtained by NPR from a department official show a much lower number: Only 28% of eligible borrowers identified between March 2016 and September 2019 have either had their loans erased or are on track for that to happen.īorrowers and advocates say the Education Department doesn't do enough to inform borrowers like Denise of their rights, and those who do apply for help have to navigate a years-long, bureaucratic obstacle course. Not only that, the Education Department told Congress earlier this year it had discharged the loans of 40% of eligible borrowers with significant, permanent disabilities. ![]() Education Lawmakers Call For Investigation After NPR Report On Borrowers With Disabilities
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