Erase Disabled Veterans' Student Debt

 

The attorneys general of 51 U.S. states and territories have called on the Department of Education to stop requiring that disabled veterans fill out paperwork to become eligible for federal student loan forgiveness. In a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos they urged her to automatically cancel the debt for veterans who are totally and permanently disabled. 

As we reported in our March 2017 newsletter, “to erase your old debt if you are a veteran, you must submit documentation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) showing that the VA has determined that you are unemployable due to a service-connected disability.” The attorneys general say a change is needed. “Because America’s veterans deserve better, we ask the Department to develop an automatic discharge process to ensure that all eligible veterans can have their student loans forgiven,” the attorneys general wrote in the letter. “Any concerns that some disabled veterans might not want their student loans discharged can be addressed by providing veterans notice and an opportunity to opt out of loan forgiveness or to seek reinstatement of their loans.”

The bi-partisan group of attorneys general represents almost every state (including Nebraska and Iowa), four U.S. territories and the District of Columbia.

 

 

 

Sean D. Cuddigan
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SSA and VA Disability Attorney in Omaha, Nebraska
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