Maintained for Historical Purposes

This resource is being maintained for historical purposes only and is not currently applicable.

Summary: Loans made under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program cannot be cancelled for law enforcement service

Publication Date: June 27, 2002

Author: Program Development/AS

Summary: Loans made under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program cannot be cancelled for law enforcement service

Posted on June 27, 2002

TO: Financial Aid Community
FROM: Jeff Baker, Director
Program Development, Analysis/FSA

SUMMARY: Loans made under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program cannot be cancelled for law enforcement service.

We have recently received a number of inquiries from borrowers requesting information on having their William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program loans cancelled for law enforcement service. While it is unclear what has prompted these inquiries, we believe that one or more law enforcement organizations may have recently published information on the availability of a loan cancellation benefit for law enforcement professionals who received loans under the National Direct Student Loan Program.

The National Direct Student Loan Program was a predecessor to the Federal Perkins Loan Program. It is now part of the Federal Perkins Loan Program, together with the even older National Defense Student Loan Program. In the past, our regulations and publications sometimes referred to loans made under the National Direct Student Loan Program as "Direct Loans." Because loans made under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program are also called "Direct Loans," and because the names of the two programs are similar, borrowers who read about loan cancellation benefits in the National Direct Student Loan Program may assume, incorrectly, that this program is the same as the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program. Although a law enforcement cancellation benefit is available to certain borrowers who receive loans under the Federal Perkins Loan Program (including loans made under the National Direct Student Loan Program), there is no law enforcement cancellation benefit in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program.

To eliminate potential confusion between the National Direct Student Loan Program and the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program, we published final regulations on April 6, 2000 that amended the Federal Perkins Loan Program regulations (34 CFR Part 674) by replacing the term "Direct Loan" (as used in reference to loans made under the National Direct Student Loan Program) with the acronym "NDSL." This change became effective May 8, 2000. However, the 1999 Regulations Compilation that was available on our Information for Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) website did not reflect this change and still used the term "Direct Loan" in reference to the National Direct Student Loan Program.
We apologize for any confusion this may have caused. If you have any further questions on this topic, please contact the Customer Service Call Center at (800) 433-7327 between 9 am - 5 pm Eastern. Email questions can be sent to: fsa.customer.support@ed.gov.