Need advice on FAFSA borrower defense application - overwhelmed by requirements

I successfully got a borrower defense discharge last year for a similar situation. Here's what helped me: 1. Be extremely specific about the misrepresentations. Don't just say "they lied about job placement" - provide the exact statements, when/where they were made, and why they were false. 2. Documentation is critical - screenshots of their website claims, brochures, emails from admissions, and any written materials with false claims. Emails absolutely count! 3. Organize by category of misrepresentation (job placement, earnings, accreditation, transferability of credits, etc) 4. Include statements from other students if possible 5. The timeline matters - be very clear about when each misrepresentation occurred and how it influenced your decision The Department of Education is processing these much faster now than they used to. Mine took about 7 months for approval. Feel free to ask if you have specific questions about any section!

i did mine last spetember and its still "in review" lmao good luck getting it procesed anytime this YEAR 🙄

I process financial aid at a community college, and I've helped several students with borrower defense applications. The most successful applications I've seen have these things in common: 1. They focus on provable, factual misrepresentations (not subjective things like "the education was poor quality") 2. They include very specific employment statistics that the school falsely advertised 3. They provide documentation of enrollment costs being misrepresented 4. They demonstrate how credits weren't transferable despite claims they would be The key is providing evidence that meets the legal standard of misrepresentation. General disappointment with the school isn't enough - you need to show specific false claims that influenced your enrollment decision. Make copies of EVERYTHING before submitting. The FSA has been known to lose documents.

I've been trying to reach someone at Federal Student Aid about my borrower defense application for weeks with no luck - always disconnected or ridiculous wait times. I finally tried using Claimyr (claimyr.com) after someone here recommended it, and they got me connected to an FSA agent in about 15 minutes! They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ that shows how it works. The agent was able to tell me exactly what was missing from my borrower defense application and why it was delayed. Definitely worth it when you need to actually speak to someone about your application status.

WARNING FROM SOMEONE WHO MESSED UP: Don't do what I did - I submitted my borrower defense without making copies of EVERYTHING and then when they asked for additional documentation 8 months later, I couldn't provide it all and got denied. Print screenshots of everything, save emails as PDFs, take pictures of physical materials. Document EVERYTHING!!!!!

just wondering has anyone gotten a partial discharge vs full? im nervous they'll only forgive like half my loans even tho the whole program was fraudulent

One thing to consider - if you're still within the 3-year timeframe from when you discovered the misrepresentation (not from when you attended!), make sure to note that in your application. The statute of limitations can be a factor in some cases. Also, include any communication you had with school officials where you questioned their claims or asked for verification. This helps establish that you did due diligence before filing for borrower defense.

yall keep saying evidence but what if the school shut down and their website is gone? i cant find my enrollment papers eithre... am i just screwed?

I submitted mine about 8 months ago and just got approved last week! Full discharge of $23K in loans plus a refund of payments I'd already made. Here's a tip nobody told me: if you mention accreditation misrepresentation specifically, it seems to get processed faster based on what I've heard from others in my situation. My school claimed they were "in the process" of getting programmatic accreditation but they had actually been denied twice already when they told me that.