Teacher cancellation—Federal Perkins, NDSL and Defense loans.
34 C.F.R. § 674.53
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01(a) Cancellation for full-time teaching in an elementary or secondary school serving low-income students. (1)(i) An institution must cancel up to 100 percent of the outstanding loan balance on a Federal Perkins loan or an NDSL made on or after July 23, 1992, for full-time teaching in a public or other nonprofit elementary or secondary school.
(ii) An institution must cancel up to 100 percent of the outstanding loan balance on a Federal Perkins, NDSL or Defense loan made prior to July 23, 1992, for teaching service performed on or after October 7, 1998, if the cancellation benefits provided under this section are not included in the terms of the borrower's promissory note.
(iii) An institution must cancel up to 100 percent of the outstanding balance of a Federal Perkins, NDSL, or Defense loan for teaching service that includes August 14, 2008, or begins on or after that date, at an educational service agency.
(2) The borrower must be teaching full-time in a public or other nonprofit elementary or secondary school that—
(i) Is in a school district that qualified for funds, in that year, under part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended; and
(ii) Has been selected by the Secretary based on a determination that more than 30 percent of the school's or educational service agency's total enrollment is made up of title I children.
(3) For each academic year, the Secretary notifies participating institutions of the schools and educational service agencies selected under paragraph (a) of this section.
(4)(i) The Secretary selects schools and educational service agencies under paragraph (a)(1) of this section based on a ranking by the State education agency.
(ii) The State education agency must base its ranking of the schools and educational service agencies on objective standards and methods. These standards must take into account the numbers and percentages of title I children attending those schools and educational service agencies.
(5) The Secretary considers all elementary and secondary schools operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) or operated on Indian reservations by Indian tribal groups under contract with BIA to qualify as schools serving low-income students.
(6) A teacher, who performs service in a school or educational service agency that meets the requirement of paragraph (a)(1) of this section in any year and in a subsequent year fails to meet these requirements, may continue to teach in that school or educational service agency and will be eligible for loan cancellation pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section in subsequent years.
(7) If a list of eligible institutions in which a teacher performs services under paragraph (a)(1) of this section is not available before May 1 of any year, the Secretary may use the list for the year preceding the year for which the determination is made to make the service determination.
(b) Cancellation for full-time teaching in special education. (1) An institution must cancel up to 100 percent of the outstanding balance on a borrower's Federal Perkins loan or NDSL loan made on or after July 23, 1992, for the borrower's service as a full-time special education teacher of infants, toddlers, children, or youth with disabilities, in a public or other nonprofit elementary or secondary school system.
(2) An institution must cancel up to 100 percent of the outstanding loan balance on a Federal Perkins, NDSL or Defense loan made prior to July 23, 1992, for teaching service performed on or after October 7, 1998, if the cancellation benefits provided under this section are not included in the terms of the borrower's promissory note.
(3) An institution must cancel up to 100 percent of the outstanding balance on a borrower's Federal Perkins, NDSL, or Defense loan for a borrower's service that includes August 14, 2008, or begins on or after that date, as a full-time special education teacher of infants, toddlers, children, or youth with disabilities, in an educational service agency.
(c) Cancellation for full-time teaching in fields of expertise. (1) An institution must cancel up to 100 percent of the outstanding balance on a borrower's Federal Perkins loan or NDSL made on or after July 23, 1992, for full-time teaching in mathematics, science, foreign languages, bilingual education, or any other field of expertise where the State education agency determines that there is a shortage of qualified teachers.
(2) An institution must cancel up to 100 percent of the outstanding loan balance on a Federal Perkins, NDSL or Defense loan made prior to July 23, 1992, for teaching service performed on or after October 7, 1998, if the cancellation benefits provided under this section are not included in the terms of the borrower's promissory note.
(d) Cancellation rates. (1) To qualify for cancellation under paragraph (a), (b), or (c) of this section, a borrower must teach full-time for a complete academic year or its equivalent.
(2) Cancellation rates are—
(i) 15 percent of the original principal loan amount plus the interest on the unpaid balance accruing during the year of qualifying service, for each of the first and second years of full-time teaching;
(ii) 20 percent of the original principal loan amount, plus the interest on the unpaid balance accruing during the year of qualifying service, for each of the third and fourth years of full-time teaching; and
(iii) 30 percent of the original principal loan amount, plus the interest on the unpaid balance accruing during the year of qualifying service, for the fifth year of full-time teaching.
(e) Teaching in a school system. The Secretary considers a borrower to be teaching in a public or other nonprofit elementary or secondary school system or an educational service agency only if the borrower is directly employed by the school system.
(f) Teaching children and adults. A borrower who teaches both adults and children qualifies for cancellation for this service only if a majority of the students whom the borrower teaches are children.
Source: eCFRURL: https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2024-07-01/title-34.xmlFetched: 7/26/2026