• If you attended a predatory school and want to challenge your Navient private student loans, you should contact Navient/MOHELA and ask for a School Misconduct Discharge Application. You can do this by contacting Navient’s Office of Consumer Advocate at (888) 545-4199 ext. 998214. Or by email at: advocate@navient.com. You can also request a School Misconduct Discharge Application from MOHELA by calling (888) 272-5543.

  • If Navient/MOHELA refuses to provide you with an application, you can submit a complaint here to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which is a federal agency tasked with supervising certain financial institutions and enforcing consumer rights. The CFPB requires the companies it supervises to respond in writing to consumer complaints. Although there is no guarantee that your complaint will lead to the result you want, your complaints help the CFPB to understand and prioritize the problems that student loan borrowers are facing and helps its mission to protect consumers from unfair and unlawful treatment.

• You can find a blank version of Navient’s private student loan School Misconduct Discharge Application here. (*Note: this is not a fillable PDF). MOHELA/Navient state that “student loans potentially eligible for School Misconduct Discharge are direct-to-school loans to attend for-profit schools. Refinance loans and direct-to-consumer loans are not eligible for this program.” (https://servicing.mohela.com/loan-servicing/private-student-loans/) 

• Navient also now states that it requires an up-to-date job history (since graduation/attendance) and supporting documentation. We understand that this places additional obstacles and burdens on borrowers, however, we are still encouraging borrowers to apply, and we continue to monitor Navient/MOHELA’s responses to applications.

• Completing this application will probably take at least an hour. The process will require you to explain in detail how your school misled, defrauded, and lied to you and why you are entitled to loan relief. It also requires that you gather supporting documentation to submit along with your application.

• Be thorough but concise in explaining to Navient/MOHELA why you should be entitled to relief from your private student loans. Be specific and include details such as dates, amounts owed, and how specifically your school lied to you, did not deliver what they promised to you, and/or otherwise deceived you about the education you were getting and the total costs you would owe. Make sure that your answers to every question/section specifically describe your own experience and how you have personally been affected by your experience. (*TIP: If you already filed a federal borrower defense application, you can include the same information here).

• We recommend you type out the answers to Navient/MOHELA’s questions on a separate document that you include as an attachment to your application (*TIP: make sure to put your name and Navient/MOHELA account number on each additional page you submit).

• When responding to the questions in the application, make sure to include: 

  • A detailed written narrative of what the school did wrong, with specifics. 

  • Documents corroborating the misconduct (ads, brochures, enforcement actions). 

  • A detailed written narrative of how you were personally harmed by the school’s misrepresentations. 

  • Documents showing your harm (loan amounts, job history, earnings, etc.) 

  • A clear, explicit casual chain linking the school’s lies to your specific losses.  

• The application states that, in order to be considered, you must provide supporting documentation. Examples of documents that you can include in support of your application are:

  • A copy of a notice from the Department of Education approving your federal borrower defense to repayment application for your federal loans for the same school that your private loans are for (this includes a Sweet v. Cardona approval letter).

  • A copy of a Department of Education public announcement of school misconduct related group discharge for students that attended certain for-profit schools. These schools include:

    • Marinello Schools of Beauty

    • Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (including WyoTech, Heald and Everest)

    • ITT Technical Institute

    • Westwood College

    • College America

    • The Art Institutes

  • In January of 2022, Navient entered into a settlement with 39 state attorneys general regarding its lending practices at a number of for-profit schools. If you attended one of the schools listed under the terms of the settlement, reviewable here, you can highlight that in your application.

  • Public information about lawsuits, enforcement actions, and investigations related to your school. A broad overview of enforcement actions, lawsuits, and investigations against many predatory, for-profit schools can be found here. These cases can be cited and included in your application as proof of your school’s wrongdoing.

  • Any original documentation you may have from your school that includes proof of misrepresentation, deceptive recruitment tactics, or substantial misconduct (i.e. enrollment agreements, financial aid claims, recruiters’ statements, job placement claims, etc.).

• You can submit your School Misconduct Application to Navient/MOHELA either by mail to: Navient, P.O. Box 4200 Wilkes-Barre, PA 18773-4200; or electronically at: advocate@navient.com and advocate@servicing.mohela.com; or via Fax to (570) 821 4556.

• MOHELA/Navient recently “updated” their review process to now provide rejected borrowers with denial codes and denial explanations. Rejected borrowers may reapply for loan discharge by resubmitting a new application that addresses the denial codes. The denial codes are: 

  • 1 - Insufficient alleged misconduct and/or narrative explanation of alleged misconduct.

  • 2 - Insufficient supporting evidence of alleged misconduct.

  • 3 - Insufficient alleged harm and/or narrative explanation of alleged harm.

  • 4 - Insufficient supporting evidence of alleged harm.

  • 5 - Insufficient evidence that alleged misconduct caused alleged harm.

  • 6 - Length of time since the alleged misconduct occurred.

  • 7 - Length of time since you became aware of the alleged misconduct.

• Rejected borrowers may reapply for loan discharge by resubmitting a new application that explains why the denial codes should not apply. We recommend including in your application a written narrative explaining with specificity the misrepresentations that your school made, your reliance on those misrepresentations, and how they caused you harm after graduating.  (We recommend typing your responses in a separate document and attaching it to your application instead of using the boxes in the application).

• If you received an denial from MOHELA/Navient, with insufficient reasoning or justification, you should file a complaint with the CFPB. Though the Trump administration has largely shuttered the CFPB, the agency is still receiving and tracking complaints and forwarding them to the loan servicers.  

• It is important for  policymakers to know that private student loan debt from predatory higher ed institutions is an issue that needs to be addressed. There is strength in numbers. Forward your CFPB complaint to your members of Congress. You can find your federal representatives here.  

• You can also reach out to your state lawmakers. This list includes contact information for student loan ombudsmen in several states. Another resource can be the consumer protection unit at your state’s Attorney General’s office  

• Contact MOHELA/Navient for information on why you were denied, and what additional information or documents you can submit for reconsideration of your application.   

• Email us at info@ppsl.org with a copy of your denial letter.  

• If you don’t receive a response from Navient/MOHELA in 60 days, you should file a complaint with the CFPB. Include your complete application and attachments in your complaint and note that you submitted more than 60 days ago. Be sure to check your MOHELA/Navient portal for updates related to your application.  

Total & Permanent Disability (TPD) Discharge for Private Student Loans

 Navient offers a program to help borrowers with private student loans who are totally and permanently disabled. If you qualify, this program allows you to cancel (discharge) your loans.

For more information, call MOHELA (which now services Navient's loans) at 1-888-272-5543 to request a "Total and Permanent Disability Discharge" application for your private student loans. If your loans qualify, Navient will send you an application with more details on how to proceed.

For Veterans:

If you are a Veteran and have been rated 100% disabled by the VA due to a service-connected disability, your VA disability documentation may be enough to qualify for a discharge. You might not need to complete a separate application. 

For assistance, contact MOHELA’s Military team at 1-855-278-3619 or Navient's Military Department at 1-855-284-4879. You can also call the general number above and have them transfer you.

 If you don’t receive a response from Navient or you receive a denial on a TPD Application, you should file a complaint with the CFPB here. In addition, please email us at info@ppsl.org with a copy your denial letter.

• For more information on private student loans, go to the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Borrower Assistance website. 

• For more information about private debt collection in general, visit the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau’s website.  

• For possible legal assistance, search for organizations offering free legal assistance on student loan issues through the Legal Services Corporation website. You can visit the National Association of Consumer Advocate’s website to search for a private lawyer.