U.S. to streamline student debt forgiveness for disabled vets

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced plans Monday to make it easier for permanently disabled military veterans to have their federal student debt wiped away.

Anyone with a severe disability is eligible by law to have the government discharge their federal student loans, but the benefit has not been widely publicized. Working with the Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Department of Education will begin identifying eligible veterans who will receive an application for loan forgiveness.

The program builds on an effort started in 2016 to help discharge the debts of severely disabled Americans.

That process, however, failed to capture permanently disabled veterans who receive benefits through Veterans Affairs, rather than the Social Security Administration.