Child Service

This application is used for the following types of cancellations:

Child/Family Service Agency Cancellation

Payments on Federal Perkins student loans may be cancelled for specified professional services. If your loan is eligible, it will be placed in deferment status and you will not receive a loan billing statement during that period of time.

After completion of one full year of service in a child or family service field, a percentage of your loan will be cancelled. To determine the percentage of cancellation for each year of service, please refer to the cancellation rate chart.

Eligibility

You must be:

  • employed full-time in a public or private nonprofit child or family service agency; and
  • providing services directly and exclusively to high-risk children from low-income communities and to the families of these children, or supervising the provision of such services. Any services provided to the children's families must be secondary to the services provided to the children.

For purposes of this cancellation

  • high-risk children are defined as individuals under the age of 21 who are low-income or at risk of abuse or neglect; have been abused or neglected; have serious emotional, mental, or behavioral disturbances; reside in placements outside their homes; or are involved in the juvenile justice system.
  • low-income communities are communities in which there is a high concentration of children eligible to be counted under Title I rules.

The types of services a borrower may provide to qualify for a child or family service cancellation include child care and child development services; health, mental health, and psychological services; and social services. The Department of Education has determined that an elementary or secondary school system, a hospital, or an institution of higher education is not an eligible employing agency.

Additionally, your loan must be paid to the start of your cancellation period.

Application Process

There are two ways to apply:

Penn State 
Student Financial Services
108 Shields Building
664 Curtin Road
University Park, PA 16802

Fax: 814-865-6535
  • Contact our office by letter or via the Web with the following information:
    • full name, address, and phone number of your current employer
    • date you were hired full-time
    • detailed description of your duties
    • the age level of the children under your care

When your documentation is received, our office will send you a notification of eligibility. If you are eligible, you will be notified of your deferment coverage and a cancellation form(s) will be enclosed. Please submit your cancellation form(s) approximately one month prior to the expiration of your deferment.

Once your completed and certified cancellation form(s) is returned to our office, it will be reviewed for final approval. Once approved and your outstanding balance has been reduced through cancellation, you will receive a notification letter and a new cancellation form(s) from our office. Your loan(s) will be automatically deferred for the following year, pending the completion and submission of the new cancellation form(s).

Termination of Employment

If your employment is terminated for any reason, you will receive a grace period of six months from the date of termination. Payments will not be due and interest will not accrue during the grace period. Upon termination, please contact our office immediately for further information.

Other Options

If your loan is not eligible for an Early Intervention Service Provider Cancellation and you are unable to meet your scheduled payments, you may apply for an economic hardship deferment or forbearance.

Speech Language Pathologist Cancellation

Payments on Federal Perkins student loans may be cancelled for specified professional services. If your loan is eligible for cancellation, the account will be placed in deferment status and you will not receive a loan billing statement during that period of time.

After completion of one full year of service in a child or family service field, a percentage of your loan will be cancelled. To determine the percentage of cancellation for each year of service, please refer to the cancellation rate chart.

Eligibility

You must be a full-time employment that includes August 14, 2008, or begins on or after that date, as a speech pathologist. A speech pathologist is someone who evaluates or treats disorders that affect a person's speech; language; cognition; voice; swallowing and the rehabilitative or corrective treatment of physical or cognitive deficits/disorders resulting in difficulty with communication, swallowing, or both; and who has obtained a postgraduate academic degree awarded after the completion of an academic program of up to six years in duration (excluding a doctorate or professional degree).

To qualify for cancellation, the speech pathologist must have a master's degree and be working exclusively with Title I-eligible schools.

Additionally, your loan must be paid to the start of your cancellation period.

Application Process

There are two ways to apply:

Penn State 
Student Financial Services
108 Shields Building
664 Curtin Road
University Park, PA 16802

Fax: 814-865-6535
  • Contact our office by letter or via the Web with the following information:
    • full name, address, and phone number of your current employer
    • date you were hired full-time
    • detailed description of your duties
    • the age level of the children under your care

When your documentation is received, our office will send you a notification of eligibility. If you are eligible, you will be notified of your deferment coverage and a cancellation form(s) will be enclosed. Please submit your cancellation form(s) approximately one month prior to the expiration of your deferment.

Once your completed and certified cancellation form(s) is returned to our office, it will be reviewed for final approval. Once approved and your outstanding balance has been reduced through cancellation, you will receive a notification letter and a new cancellation form(s) from our office. Your loan(s) will be automatically deferred for the following year, pending the completion and submission of the new cancellation form(s).

Termination of Employment

If your employment is terminated for any reason, you will receive a grace period of six months from the date of termination. Payments will not be due and interest will not accrue during the grace period. Upon termination, please contact our office immediately for further information.

Other Options

If your loan is not eligible for an Early Intervention Service Provider Cancellation and you are unable to meet your scheduled payments, you may apply for an economic hardship deferment or forbearance.

Staff in a Pre-Kindergarten, Child Care or Head Start Program Cancellation

Payments on Federal Perkins student loans may be cancelled for specified teaching services. If your loan is eligible for cancellation, the account will be placed in deferment status and you will not receive a loan billing statement during that period of time.

After completion of one full year of service in a child or family service field, a percentage of your loan will be cancelled. To determine the percentage of cancellation for each year of service, please refer to the cancellation rate chart.

Eligibility

You must serve:

  • as a full-time staff member in a Head Start program; or
  • as a full-time staff member of a pre-kindergarten or child care program that is licensed or regulated by the state.
  • "Head Start" is a preschool program carried out under the Head Start Act (subchapter B, chapter 8 of Title VI of Pub. L. 97-35, the Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, as amended; formerly authorized under section 222(a)(1) of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964). (42 U.S.C. 2809(a)(1)).
  • A pre-kindergarten program is a state-funded program that serves children from birth through age six and addresses the children's cognitive (including language, early literacy, and early mathematics), social, emotional, and physical development.
  • A child care program is a program that is licensed or regulated by the state and provides child care services for fewer than 24 hours per day per child, unless care in excess of 24 consecutive hours is needed due to the nature of the parents' work.
  • A full-time staff member is someone who is regularly employed in a full-time professional capacity to carry out the educational part of the early education program.

For the pre-kindergarten and child care program cancellation, the period of service must be on or after August 14, 2008. In order to qualify for cancellation, the early education program in which the borrower serves must operate for a complete academic year or its equivalent. The borrower's salary may not exceed the salary of a comparable employee working in the local educational agency of the area served by the early education program.

Additionally, your loan must be paid to the start of your cancellation period.

Application Process

There are two ways to apply:

Penn State 
Student Financial Services
108 Shields Building
664 Curtin Road
University Park, PA 16802

Fax: 814-865-6535
  • Contact our office by letter or via the Web with the following information:
    • full name, address, and phone number of your current employer
    • county where employer is located
    • date you were hired full-time
    • detailed description of your duties

When your documentation is received, our office will send you a notification of eligibility. If you are eligible, you will be notified of your deferment coverage and a cancellation form(s) will be enclosed. Please submit your cancellation form(s) approximately one month prior to the expiration of your deferment.

Once your completed and certified cancellation form(s) is returned to our office, it will be reviewed for final approval. Once approved and your outstanding balance has been reduced through cancellation, you will receive a notification letter and a new cancellation form(s) from our office. Your loan(s) will be automatically deferred for the following year, pending the completion and submission of the new cancellation form(s).

Termination of Employment

If your employment is terminated for any reason, you will receive a grace period of six months from the date of termination. Payments will not be due and interest will not accrue during the grace period. Upon termination, please contact our office immediately for further information.

Other Options

If your loan is not eligible for an Early Intervention Service Provider Cancellation and you are unable to meet your scheduled payments, you may apply for an economic hardship deferment or forbearance.

Early Intervention Service Provider Cancellation

Payments on Federal Perkins student loans may be cancelled for specified professional services. If your loan is eligible for cancellation, the account will be placed in deferment status and you will not receive a loan billing statement during that period of time.

After completion of one full year of service in an early intervention field, a portion of your loan will be cancelled. To determine the percentage of cancellation for each year of service, please refer to the cancellation rate chart.  

Eligibility

You must be employed full-time as a qualified professional provider of early intervention services in a public or other non-profit program. "Early intervention services" are provided to infants and toddlers with disabilities.

Infants and toddlers with disabilities

An individual under three years of age who needs early intervention services because the individual (1) is experiencing developmental delays, as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments and procedures, in one or more of the areas of cognitive development, physical development, communication development, social or emotional development, and adaptive development; or (2) has a diagnosed physical or mental condition which has a high probability of resulting in developmental delay.

The term may also include, at a state’s discretion, individuals under age three, who are at risk of having substantial developmental delays if early intervention services are not provided. (Section 632(5) (A) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.)

Qualified professional provider of early intervention services

A provider of services, as defined in Section 632 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Section 632 of that act defines early intervention services as developmental services that:

  1. are provided under public supervision;
  2. are provided at no cost except where federal or state law provides for a system of payments by families, including a schedule of sliding fees;
  3. are designed to meet the developmental needs of an infant or toddler with a disability in one or more of the following areas: physical development, cognitive development, communication development, social or emotional development, or adaptive development;
  4. meet the standards of the state in which they are provided;
  5. are provided by qualified personnel, including special educators; speech and language pathologists and audiologists; occupational therapists; physical therapists; psychologists; social workers; nurses; nutritionists; family therapists; orientation and mobility specialists; and pediatricians and other physicians;
  6. to the maximum extent appropriate, are provided in natural environments, including the home, and community settings in which children without disabilities participate; and
  7. are provided in conformity with an individualized family service plan adopted in accordance with Section 636 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, early intervention services include family training, counseling, and home visits; special instruction; speech-language pathology and audiology services; occupational therapy; physical therapy; psychological services; service coordination services; medical services only for diagnostic or evaluation purposes; early identification, screening, and assessment services; health services necessary to enable the infant or toddler to benefit from the other early intervention services; social work services; vision services; assistive technology devices and services; and transportation and related costs necessary to enable infants, toddlers, and their families to receive other services identified in Section 632(4).

Additionally, your loan must be paid to the start of your cancellation period.

Application Process

There are two ways to apply:

  1. Submit an application
Penn State 
Student Financial Services
108 Shields Building
664 Curtin Road
University Park, PA 16802

Fax: 814-865-6535
  1. Contact our office by letter or via the Web with the following information:
    • full name, address, and phone number of your current employer
    • date you were hired full-time
    • detailed description of your duties
    • the age level of the children under your care

When your documentation is received, our office will send you a notification of eligibility. If you are eligible, you will be notified of your deferment coverage and a cancellation form(s) will be enclosed. Please submit your cancellation form(s) approximately one month prior to the expiration of your deferment.

Once your completed and certified cancellation form(s) is returned to our office, it will be reviewed for final approval. Once approved and your outstanding balance has been reduced through cancellation, you will receive a notification letter and a new cancellation form(s) from our office. Your loan(s) will be automatically deferred for the following year, pending the completion and submission of the new cancellation form(s).

Termination of Employment

If your employment is terminated for any reason, you will receive a grace period of six months from the date of termination. Payments will not be due and interest will not accrue during the grace period. Upon termination, please contact our office immediately for further information.

Other Options

If your loan is not eligible for an Early Intervention Service Provider Cancellation and you are unable to meet your scheduled payments, you may apply for an economic hardship deferment or forbearance.