Efforts to identify and notify veterans who have suffered total and permanent disability (TPD) of their eligibility for student loan discharge would be ramped up under legislation recently introduced by U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello (R-PA).
Currently, some veterans with service-connected disabilities are unaware of their ability to discharge student loan debt under current laws. Costello’s bill, the Match Veterans to Student Loan Protections (MVP) Act, would address that by notifying veterans of their rights and by providing simple instructions on how to apply.
“Servicemembers make humbling sacrifices for our country, and veterans who return home with their lives permanently altered by disability deserve to know exactly what rights they are afforded under the law, including the right to student loan discharge,” Costello said. “I am honored to represent thousands of Pennsylvania veterans, and it is my hope this program will provide relief to those whose lives and livelihoods are permanently altered as a result of their service to our nation.”
A new computer matching system that pulls data from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Education would be created to automatically identify veterans who are now unemployable because of disabilities of their rights to discharge student loans. Similar systems are already in place to identify veteran student loan borrowers who are eligible based on Social Security disability benefits.
Veterans with a service-connected condition that renders them 100 percent disabled, and those with an individual employability determination from the VA, are eligible to apply for the discharge of student loans.
Costello introduced the bipartisan bill with U.S. Reps. Lou Barletta (R-PA) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ).