Full Sail Student Loan Forgiveness: How to Get It

• If you’re a Full Sail student who experienced school misconduct or misrepresentation, such as false promises about job placement rates or the transferability of credits, you may be eligible for Navient’s private student loan forgiveness program.

• Borrower Defense to Repayment is a federal program that offers loan discharge to borrowers whose schools engaged in fraudulent or deceptive practices. You can apply for this program if you believe Full Sail University misled you.

• In addition to these programs, you may also benefit from Public Service Loan Forgiveness and income-driven repayment forgiveness, which offer loan forgiveness based on factors such as income, repayment length, and public service employment.

• If you’re a parent who borrowed Parent PLUS Loans for your child’s education at Full Sail University, you may be eligible for loan forgiveness through various programs, such as Borrower Defense to Repayment, PSLF, and Income-Contingent Repayment Plan forgiveness. The old “double consolidation” loophole no longer applies: the SAVE plan has been repealed, and a Parent PLUS consolidation had to be disbursed on or before June 30, 2026 to reach any income-driven plan. Consolidating now reaches none of them.

Many Full Sail students who are struggling with student loan debt went to the university between 2004 and 2018, with a significant number enrolling around the Great Recession in 2008. These students come from various programs, including game design, audio engineering, and entertainment business.

No matter the program they were pursuing, many shared a common feeling after leaving school: frustration and fear of not knowing how to get student loan forgiveness for their debt from Full Sail University.

But there is hope.

Various student loan forgiveness programs, such as Navient’s private student loan forgiveness and Borrower Defense to Repayment, are available to help eligible borrowers find relief from their debt.

This article will provide a comprehensive guide to the options available specifically for Full Sail students and an overview of other federal programs that may relate to their situation.

Related: List of Schools That Defrauded Students

What it is: Borrower Defense to Repayment is a federal program that lets borrowers seek loan forgiveness if their school engaged in misconduct or misrepresentation. This program applies to federal Direct Loans, Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans, and Federal Perkins Loans.

How it works: Full Sail students who believe they were misled or subjected to misconduct by the school may be eligible for BDR. Examples might include:

• False promises about job placement rates or earning potential in the game design, audio engineering, or entertainment business industries.

• Misrepresentations about the transferability of credits earned in these programs.

• Deceptive claims about the quality of education or resources in specific fields of study.

Who qualifies: To be eligible for BDR, you must have federal Direct Loans, FFEL Program loans, or Federal Perkins Loans and be able to show your school engaged in misconduct or misrepresentation. The misconduct must have violated state or federal law and relate to your loans or educational services.

How to apply: To apply for BDR, you must complete an application online through the Federal Student Aid website or by mail. In your application, provide detailed information about your school’s misconduct and how it influenced your decision to attend or borrow loans. You must also submit any supporting evidence, such as promotional materials, enrollment agreements, or emails from school officials.

Current status and legal challenges: While the BDR program has been in place for several years, it has faced legal challenges and changes.

In 2022, the Biden administration finalized regulations meant to make it easier for borrowers to win loan forgiveness through BDR. A group of for-profit schools challenged those regulations in court, and the litigation reinstated the stricter 2019 rules — which is what the Education Department uses to decide applications today.

The BDR program is still open, and you can apply for free at StudentAid.gov. But under the 2019 rules approvals are rare and decisions can take years, so treat BDR as one option to pursue alongside — not instead of — income-driven repayment and the other programs covered below.

What it is: Navient offers a private student loan forgiveness program specifically for borrowers misled by their schools. This program is separate from federal loan forgiveness options and only applies to private student loans Navient made or serviced.

How it works: If you have private student loans with Navient and believe your school engaged in misconduct or misrepresentation, you may be eligible for loan forgiveness. Examples of school misconduct include false promises about job placement rates, earning potential, or the transferability of credits.

Who qualifies: To be eligible for Navient’s private student loan forgiveness program, you must have private student loans Navient made or serviced and be able to show that your school engaged in misconduct or misrepresentation. Navient limits the program to direct-to-school loans used to attend for-profit schools — refinance loans and direct-to-consumer loans aren’t eligible. Eligibility is not based on your income, employment status, or length of repayment.

This program only applies to Navient private student loans. You will not be eligible for this program if you have private loans with other lenders. However, you may have other options for seeking relief, such as the holder-in-due-course rule, a 1975 Federal Trade Commission regulation that lets borrowers contest their debt if the goods or services bought were fraudulent.

How to apply: To apply, request a School Misconduct Discharge Application. MOHELA took over servicing Navient’s private student loans in October 2024, so ask MOHELA for the application — call (888) 272-5543 or email advocate@servicing.mohela.com. Navient remains responsible for deciding which loans get discharged.

Review our article on the Navient School Misconduct Discharge Program for more details.

Deadline: As of August 2026, the program is still accepting applications, and there is no deadline to apply. But approval is far from guaranteed — a December 2024 congressional investigation found Navient denied about 80% of the borrowers who applied, and borrowers filed a class action in 2025 challenging those denials. If you believe you qualify, apply promptly and support your case with strong documentation: enrollment agreements, marketing materials, and any records of what the school promised.

In addition to Navient’s private loan forgiveness and Borrower Defense to Repayment, Full Sail students may also benefit from other federal student loan forgiveness programs, such as:

IDR Account Adjustment (ended): From 2022 to 2024, the Education Department ran a one-time account adjustment that credited past time in repayment, deferment, and forbearance toward loan forgiveness. The window closed on June 30, 2024, and processing is complete — it is no longer available to new applicants.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness: The PSLF Program forgives the remaining balance on Direct Loans for borrowers who work full-time for government organizations or non-profit organizations and meet certain other requirements.

Income-Driven Repayment forgiveness: The SAVE Plan was repealed in 2025 and is no longer available. Borrowers with federal loans disbursed before July 1, 2026 can choose between Income-Based Repayment — which forgives the remaining balance after 20 or 25 years of qualifying payments — and the new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP); PAYE and ICR also remain open to existing borrowers until June 30, 2028. Loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2026 have RAP as their only income-driven option.

Parent PLUS Loan Forgiveness: Parents who borrowed Parent PLUS Loans for their child’s education at Full Sail University may be eligible for loan forgiveness through various programs, such as Borrower Defense to Repayment, PSLF, and Income-Contingent Repayment Plan forgiveness. The “double consolidation” loophole no longer applies: the SAVE plan has been repealed, and a Parent PLUS consolidation had to be disbursed on or before June 30, 2026 to reach any income-driven plan. Related: Parent PLUS Loan Forgiveness

Full Sail University students have shared mixed experiences regarding the value of their education and the school’s marketing practices. While some students believe they received a worthwhile education, others feel misled by the school’s promises and are now struggling with significant student loan debt.

A Valuable Education for Some

@dondaytaylor, a Full Sail graduate, acknowledges that the school is expensive but not a scam. He enjoyed the program and the opportunities it provided, noting that those who stuck with it often found value in their education.

“Full Sail’s 100% what you make it,” says Donday, emphasizing the importance of networking and active participation.

But he also saw that students who struggled with balancing housing, work, and fast-paced classes often dropped out, which contributed to the negative perception.

Despite having friends who enjoyed their time at Full Sail, he highlights a significant issue: post-graduation job placement.

“Most of the complaints I hear are about what happens after you graduate. Entry-level music industry jobs are garbage, and you will end up being a coffee grabber,” he says.

Both @uzybatshemesh and @soundlearn, another Full Sail graduate, criticize the school’s marketing for creating unrealistic expectations about job placement and industry connections. They stress that Full Sail should be treated as a technical school where success depends on hard work and realistic expectations, not as a “fast lane to the rockstar life.”

Deceptive Practices

@daisneyt911, a 2019 graduate, recounts a troubling experience with Full Sail’s financial practices. Despite being promised that her final $13,000 in tuition would be covered by a government grant due to her excellent grades, a routine credit check revealed six more loans taken out in her name, totaling $35,000.

“They told me it was a government grant, that I wouldn’t have to pay it back,” she explains, highlighting what she considers deceptive practices by the school. Her experience has led her to caution others against trusting the school’s financial promises without thorough verification.

While some students on Reddit compare Full Sail to schools like Art Institutes, DeVry, and ITT Tech, the experiences and outcomes may vary. Some Full Sail students have found success in their chosen fields, while others struggle with debt and limited job prospects.

Related: Art Institutes Borrower Defense to Repayment

Exploring Loan Forgiveness Options

If you believe you were misled by Full Sail’s marketing or experienced misconduct, you might be eligible for Borrower Defense to Repayment. This program could lead to the federal government canceling all of your loans to attend the school. However, this program has faced challenges and has a history of low approval rates.

Given the low approval odds for Borrower Defense and the limitations of Navient’s private loan forgiveness program, it’s important to explore all available loan forgiveness options — including income-driven repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

Some Full Sail students were also covered by the Sweet v. Cardona settlement (now captioned Sweet v. McMahon), which resolved the government’s years-long backlog of Borrower Defense applications. Finalized in November 2022, it covered borrowers who had a Borrower Defense application pending when the settlement was signed in June 2022, plus late-2022 applicants whose claims, if left undecided past the settlement’s court-ordered deadlines, were granted automatically. Full Sail isn’t one of the 151 “Exhibit C” schools whose class members received automatic discharges, so covered Full Sail borrowers got individual decisions on a court-ordered schedule instead. By June 2026, every group covered by the settlement had received its decisions or relief notices. The settlement is closed to new claims: if you filed after mid-November 2022 — or never filed — your application goes through the regular Borrower Defense process described above.

Full Sail students have multiple loan forgiveness options, including Navient’s private loan forgiveness, Borrower Defense, PSLF, and income-driven repayment forgiveness through plans like IBR.

Explore your eligibility and gather supporting documents to apply for these programs.

For personalized help, book a 1:1 consultation with our student loan experts today.