Fill Out Unpaid Refund Discharge Application Online
Loan Discharge Application: Unpaid Refund
Federal Student Aid
Applies for discharge of the portion of a federal student loan that a school failed to refund after the borrower withdrew or never attended.
Reviewed July 2026
How it works
- 1
Open the form. The official PDF loads straight into the editor, no download needed first.
- 2
Fill it out in the editor. Click anywhere to type, add checkmarks and place your signature.
- 3
Download your PDF. Save the completed form, ready to print or submit.
The Loan Discharge Application: Unpaid Refund is a Federal Student Aid form for borrowers who withdrew from a school, or never attended, and the school failed to return the portion of their federal loan money it was required to refund. It applies to loans under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program and the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program. Unlike most discharges, it does not wipe out the whole loan. Only the amount the school should have refunded, plus associated interest and costs, is discharged.
You can complete the application in the Universal PDF editor. Type your answers into the form, review each section, then download the PDF to sign and send to the address listed on the form together with any documentation about the refund.
When the unpaid refund discharge applies
Federal rules require a school to return part of a student's loan funds when the student never attends or leaves early enough in the enrollment period that a refund is owed. If the school kept that money, the borrower can apply to have the unpaid portion discharged rather than repaying funds they never benefited from.
The form's opening instructions add two important checks. If the school is still open, contact it first and try to resolve the refund directly before applying. If the school closed while you were enrolled, a closed school discharge may fit better, and it can cover the entire loan rather than just the refund portion. Your loan holder can help you decide which application is appropriate.
Who can apply
Student borrowers apply for their own loans, and parent PLUS borrowers apply for loans taken out on behalf of a student. A borrower who is still attending the school is not eligible, and the form screens for that in Section 3.
You do not need perfect records to apply. Section 4 tells you to write Don't Know where information is unavailable, and to attach whatever documentation you have, such as the school's refund policy, tuition bills, enrollment contracts, account statements, withdrawal forms, or correspondence about the refund.
How to fill out the application
The application is nine pages, but only the first four are filled out and mailed back. Here is how the sections flow:
- Section 2 collects your borrower identification: SSN, name, address, and contact details, with a box to check if anything has changed.
- Section 3, Items 1 through 3, identifies whether you are a student or parent PLUS borrower and, for PLUS loans, names the student.
- Items 4 and 5 name the school and confirm that you, or the student, are no longer attending it.
- Items 6 through 10 report any other discharge applications for the same school and any refund or payment you already requested or received, including who paid it and how much.
- Section 4 is the refund detail: whether you have documentation of the unpaid refund amount, what you believe the school owes and why, attendance dates or a never attended checkbox, the program of study, and the total federal aid received for the enrollment period.
- Section 5 is the certification. Signing states under penalty of perjury that the loan funds were received, that the withdrawal or non-attendance entitled you to a refund, and that you have not already received it, and it assigns your refund rights on the discharged amount to the Department of Education.
After you submit
Mail the signed application and your documentation to the address shown in Section 9 of the form, or to your loan holder if no address is printed. The loan holder reviews the claim, often using the school's records and refund policy to calculate the amount owed.
If the discharge is approved, the unpaid refund portion of the loan is removed, any payments attributable to that portion are credited, and the loan holder reports the correction to consumer reporting agencies. The rest of the loan remains payable under its normal terms.
Frequently asked questions
No. It removes only the portion of the loan that the school failed to refund after you withdrew or never attended, along with the interest and costs tied to that portion. The remainder of the loan stays in repayment.
The form instructs you to contact the school and attempt to resolve the refund directly before applying. If the school will not pay what it owes, you can then submit the application to your loan holder.
If you were enrolled when the school closed, or withdrew shortly before, you may qualify for a closed school discharge instead, which can cancel the entire loan. Contact your loan holder if you are unsure which application fits.
Anything showing what the school owed you: the school catalog or refund policy, tuition bills, enrollment contracts, student account statements, registration or withdrawal forms, attendance records, or letters from the school about the refund. If you lack documents, answer what you can and write Don't Know where the form allows it.
Yes. A parent who borrowed a PLUS loan for a student answers the questions as they apply to that student, including the student's name and SSN in Section 3.
Related forms
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