Sections 460 and 428J of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA) provide for teacher loan forgiveness in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program and the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program. Borrowers who teach for five consecutive years at schools or educational service agencies serving low-income families and meet certain other requirements may receive up to $17,500 in loan forgiveness. The teacher loan forgiveness regulations at 34 CFR 685.217 (for the Direct Loan Program) and 34 CFR 682.216 (for the FFEL Program) require borrowers to provide their loan holders with documentation establishing their eligibility for teacher loan forgiveness and for teacher loan forgiveness forbearance. The U.S. Department of Education (ED) is requesting an extension of the currently approved forms. To reflect regulatory changes made by a final rule published on November 1, 2022 (87 FR 65904), we have updated language related to the capitalization of unpaid interest that accrues during periods of forbearance. ED is otherwise making no substantive changes to the language in either of the two currently approved forms, and there are no changes to the data elements.
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