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Defense to Repayment App

Welcome! This app will help you dispute your federal student loan debt from your school. It will guide you through a series of questions about your experience and turn your answers into a form that will automatically be electronically submitted to the Department of Education. You will be able to download a copy of the completed form after you submit to keep for your own records.

When answering these questions, please provide as much detail as possible. The more information you can provide, the better a chance you will have of getting a discharge. We recommend setting aside at least 30 minutes to fill out the form. If a question doesn’t apply to you, you can leave it blank and click Next.

If you have any documents reflecting your experience at your school, please gather and scan them onto the computer you will use to fill out this form before beginning.

This form is very secure. The information you enter into it will only be used for two purposes: (1) to submit an application to the Department of Education and (2) to help us keep track of who is filling out this form so that we can better plan strategies for convincing the Department of Education to erase illegitimate debts. We will never share it with anybody outside the small group of organizers and lawyers working to that end unless you expressly give us permission to do so.

By creating this app, we only mean to help making the Defense to Repayment application process easier. It does not constitute and cannot substitute for legal advice.

First, we need some personal information.

Add your contact information. Include at least one phone number or email.

( )   -

Are you currently employed?

Is your job in your field of study?

Who is your loan servicer?

Did you choose the lender of your federal student loans?

Most students did not choose their own federal student loan lender. You should only choose "yes" if you took out some or all of your loans before 2010, and you had the option to take out federal student loans from different lenders.

Next, we need to know about the school you went to.

Which campus did you attend?

If you can't remember your campus's address and don't have any records stating it, entering the name of your school into a search engine may turn up its address. If you can't find the address, you can enter just your school campus's state.

When did you attend your school?

What was the name of your program?

e.g. Medical Assisting, Business Management

What type of degree were you working on? (Select your highest degree.)

Did you complete the program?

Now we’ll prompt you to describe different aspects of your experience with your school.

Did your school lie to you or mislead you about your job prospects? This could include:

  • Citing false or misleading statistics about job placement rates
  • Promising inflated salaries
  • Promising but failing to provide support in finding and landing a job.

Please explain in detail.

Did your school mislead you about the quality of the education you would receive? This could include:

  • Falsely claiming that the school had the proper accreditation to allow its graduates to take a particular licensing exam
  • Falsely claiming that it offered the classes necessary to achieve employment and/or certification in a particular field
  • Citing misleading statistics about the pass rate of students on required licensing or certification exams.

Please explain in detail.

Did your school mislead you about whether you were eligible to benefit from the program? This could include:

  • Enrolling you even though you did not have a high school diploma or GED
  • Claiming that a felony record or disability would not stand in the way of employment in a particular field.

What did your school do? If any of the listed behaviors apply, please state which.

Did your school mislead you about how you would pay for the program? This could include:

  • Understating the total cost of the program
  • Signing loan paperwork without your permission
  • Understating the amount of loans necessary
  • Treating grants and loans as if they were the same thing
  • Treating federal and private loans as if they were the same thing
  • Refusing to disclose loan terms or allow review of loan documents

What did your school do? If any of the listed behaviors apply, please state which.

Did your school mislead you about the extent of the illegal activities there, and the effect those activities would have on your school’s reputation and continued existence? This could include:

  • The school shutting down in light of lawsuits or financial mismanagement
  • Finding that having your school on a resume repels employers who have heard about its illegal practices

What did your school do? If any of the listed behaviors apply, please state which.

Did your school mislead you in other ways that you didn't already describe?

What did your school do? If any of the listed behaviors apply, please state which.

Now we'll ask you to explain how the conduct you’ve already described here by your school caused you harm and put you in debt.

Because of this conduct, I've suffered the following harm:

Please describe how the debt has affected your life.

Please explain in detail.

Please explain in detail.

Please explain in detail.

Please explain in detail.

You can use this tool to upload any documentation of your experience at your school to accompany your application. This could include: loan agreements, transcripts, diplomas, emails with school administrators, etc. When in doubt, include it.

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If my school hadn't lied and misled me in the ways I just described, I would not have attended or continued to attend.

I agree

Please review your responses to ensure they are accurate before submitting.

You're almost done! By signing below, you declare the following:

I have read and understand all of the information in this form.

I agree to provide, upon request, testimony, a sworn statement, or other documentation reasonably available to me that demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Department of Education or its designee that I meet the qualifications for borrower defense to repayment loan discharge.

All of the information I provided is true and complete to the best of my knowledge and I agree, if asked, to provide information reasonably available to me to the Department of Education that will verify the accuracy of my completed attestation.

I understand that the Department of Education has the authority to verify information reported on this application with other federal or state agencies or other entities. I authorize the Department of Education, along with its agents and contractors, to contact me regarding this request at the phone number above using automated dialing equipment or artificial or prerecorded voice or text messages.

I understand that if I purposely provided false or misleading information on this application, I may be subject to the penalties specified in 18 U.S. Code § 1001.

I certify that, if my defense is successful, upon request I will provide assistance and cooperation to the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) in any proceedings or enforcement actions against the school related to my defense or the conduct asserted herein.

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Your Defense to Repayment Form has been submitted!
Please download and save it for your records.

You should hear from the Department of Education about your application within a few weeks. For more updates, check our blog.

Do you know any other current or former students of your school? Spread the word.

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If you have trouble filling out the form, please email us at support@debtcollective.org