FFELP Stafford Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans

FFELP Stafford Loans are federal student loans made under the Federal Family Education Loan Program. Before the government ended the program in 2010, the Education Department offered two types of FFELP, or FFEL, Loans: Stafford Subsidized Loans and Stafford Unsubsidized Loans. If you take out a federal student loan now, you’ll get a loan from the Direct Loan Program.

No new Stafford loans have been made since 2010, but millions of borrowers still carry balances on them — and the path to forgiveness for most of those balances runs through consolidation into the Direct Loan program, under rules that changed on July 1, 2026.

Ahead, keep reading to learn more about FFELP Stafford Loans, including how you can get them forgiven.

Stafford Loans were a type of loan students could borrow from the federal government to help pay for their cost of attendance in college or at a trade school. Before the FFEL Program ended in July 2010, people could take out a subsidized Stafford Loan — the government pays the interest while the student’s in school — or an unsubsidized Stafford Loan — the borrower pays all of the interest during the life of the loan. Interest grows faster on unsubsidized Stafford Loans because the accrued interest is added to the principal loan balance when the student leaves school, causing the borrower to pay interest on interest.

No new Stafford Loans have been made since 2010. But there are still millions of Americans with balances remaining on these loans.

Related: Type J Student Loan Forgiveness

Direct Loans and Stafford Loans are essentially the same type of loan: a federal loan made to an undergraduate student without a credit check or cosigner. The main difference between the two is the lender. Direct Loans are made by the Education Department directly to students. Stafford Loans were made to students by banks, credit unions, and other private lenders. The federal government guaranteed the loan if the borrower fell behind on monthly payments and defaulted.

Related: What is an FFELP Loan?

Stafford Loans were replaced by Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans when the FFEL Program ended in the summer of 2010. Still, many people and schools informally use the term “Stafford Loan” to refer to loans made under the Direct Loan Program — i.e., Direct Stafford Loans. But those aren’t the official names for Direct Subsidized Loans and Direct Unsubsidized Loans.

Federal Direct Loans can be made to undergraduate and graduate students/professional students attending school at least half-time. There are annual and aggregate loan limits that control the total amount you can borrow to pay for school. Loan payments start after you drop below half-time enrollment. But you’ll have a six-month grace period to give you time to prepare for your first payment.

Related: Can Unsubsidized Loans Be Forgiven?

Federal Stafford Loans and Pell Grants are types of federal student aid. The main difference between the two is that borrowers must repay Stafford Loans. Pell Grants don’t need to be repaid. There’s no interest rate or repayment period. They are a grant of money given to undergraduate students who can demonstrate financial need according to their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Stafford Loans can qualify for today’s forgiveness programs — but which ones, and how, depends on who holds the loan.

How do you know which kind you have? Log in to studentaid.gov and check the servicer listed on the loan. If it shows the U.S. Department of Education (or ED’s Default Resolution Group), your FFEL loan is ED-held — it can even use the income-based repayment plan without consolidating. If a commercial lender or guaranty agency shows instead, your loan is commercially-held FFEL: to reach PSLF and most Direct-program benefits, you’ll need to consolidate it into a Direct Consolidation Loan.

Yes — but how depends on which kind of Stafford loan you have.

Direct Stafford loans (Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized) qualify as-is. They’re Direct Loans, which is all PSLF requires on the loan side. Enroll in a qualifying repayment plan (IBR or RAP for most borrowers now), certify your employment, and your on-time payments count toward the 120.

FFEL Stafford loans don’t qualify on their own — they must be consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan first. PSLF is a Direct Loan program, and payments made on a FFEL loan before consolidation don’t count (the limited-waiver era that credited them ended in 2022). Timing now shapes what the consolidation looks like:

• Consolidated on or before June 30, 2026: the consolidation kept access to the legacy income-driven plans (IBR), and prior IDR credit carried over on a weighted-average basis. If that’s you, pick your qualifying plan and start certifying employment.

• Consolidating on or after July 1, 2026: still possible, and still opens the PSLF door — but the new consolidation can’t use IBR, PAYE, or ICR (34 CFR § 685.209(d)(5)). Your income-driven option is the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP), and RAP payments count toward PSLF (§ 685.209(k)(8)). If RAP’s payment math doesn’t work for you, Tiered Standard is the other choice — but Standard-type payments only “count” toward PSLF in the trivial sense that the loan is paid off by year 10 anyway.

Either way, the work sequence is the same: consolidate at studentaid.gov (if FFEL), pick the income-driven plan, and submit the PSLF employment certification form for every qualifying employer — annually, so miscounts get caught early.

Related: PSLF Changes in 2026

Here are the three main forgiveness routes for Stafford Loans in 2026:

Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Direct Stafford loans qualify as-is; FFEL Stafford loans must first be consolidated into a Direct Loan. Details — including how the July 2026 consolidation rules decide which repayment plan you’ll use — are in the PSLF section above.

Income-driven repayment forgiveness. FFEL loans can use the FFEL version of income-based repayment directly (ED-held FFEL doesn’t even need consolidation), with forgiveness of the remaining balance after 25 years. Consolidating into the Direct program opens the Direct-side options, subject to the 2026 rules: a consolidation made on or after July 1, 2026, can use RAP but not the legacy plans.

Discharge programs. Total and permanent disability discharge and closed-school discharge apply to FFEL loans the same as they do to Direct Loans.