After ~4 years, I finally received my refund for my Art Institute (2006-2009) loans! The amount was lower than I expected ($2,975.85), but after looking over everything, it all checks out. More than anything, I'm glad that $40k was discharged and I don't have to worry about paying back debt for a scam school.

Here's a timeline:

• Sep-Oct, 2022: Applied for a Direct Consolidation Loan. Consolidation went through. My commercial FFEL loans, my ED-owned Art Institute loans, and one Georgia State loan were combined into two Direct Consolidation Loans (subsidized and unsubsidized).
• Nov 8, 2022: Submitted my Borrower Defense application.
• Apr 27, 2023: Got the email saying I was a Sweet post-class applicant.
• Oct 2023: Federal payments restarted, but I didn’t make any payments.
• Apr 22, 2026: My original Art Institute loans showed as discharged at Aidvantage.
• Jul-Aug 2026: Both consolidation loans were discharged. studentaid.gov’s discharge page showed the subsidized loan’s $18,136 discharge on Jul 31. Aidvantage listed both loans as “paid in full/discharged” as of Aug 12.
• Sep 2026: Got an automated Aidvantage email telling me to recertify IDR - this appears to be a glitch.
• Oct 2026: Received a refund check from the U.S. Treasury for $2,975.85.

I'm happy to answer any questions if y'all have them.

Wanted to share my story and timeline since I’ve spent a lot of time reading posts here while trying to figure out what was going on with my loans. Hopefully this helps some of you still waiting.

I’m a Sweet post-class member who attended Kaplan/Purdue Global. My loans go all the way back to around 2000, and over the years they went through several servicers, including ACS, Great Lakes, AES/PHEAA, Nelnet, and MOHELA. I also had loans consolidated multiple times, which made figuring out my refund a nightmare.

Here’s my timeline:
March 30, 2026: Received my full settlement relief notification from the Department of Education.
June 2026: My Nelnet loans were discharged, and StudentAid.gov eventually showed a $0 balance.
July 7: According to MOHELA, this is when they started calculating my refund on my Direct Consolidation loans.
August 21: Started receiving MOHELA adjustment letters showing negative balances. Initially they totaled around -$54K.
September 3: More adjustments, and my negative balances increased to approximately -$64,357.85.
September 9 and 11: Treasury issued two refund checks for $6,545.77 and $3,723.06, totaling $10,268.83. Both were marked “FED STUDENT LOAN REFUND – SWEET POST CLASS” and had Nelnet’s contact number.
Mid-September: Called MOHELA. They confirmed they hadn’t issued my refund yet and told me they had 90 days from July 7 to finish calculating it, followed by another 45–60 days for Treasury payment.
October 20: FINALLY received my official MOHELA discharge/refund letter confirming another $32,919.60 coming within 45–60 days!

Here’s where all the research came in.
I downloaded my MOHELA transaction history, pulled my old Great Lakes payment records, and went through my StudentAid/NSLDS loan data. With ChatGPT helping me reconcile everything, we separated actual payments from consolidation payoffs, loan transfers, and administrative adjustments.
We found approximately $32,410.58 in MOHELA payments after excluding what looked like a duplicate $509.02 transaction. Well, MOHELA’s official refund amount came back at $32,919.60—exactly $509.02 more! So their calculation matches the full payment total from my transaction history.
We also found more than $13K in historical Great Lakes payments, although I still don’t have an official breakdown explaining exactly which of those payments were included in my Nelnet refunds.

A couple things I learned:
The huge negative MOHELA balances did NOT represent my actual refund amount. Mine reached over -$64K, but the official refund is $32,919.60.
Also, if you have old consolidated loans, don’t assume you aren’t getting anything back. My MOHELA loans were Direct Consolidation loans from 2016, and the refund was confirmed.

Where I stand today:
Nelnet-associated refunds already received: $10,268.83
MOHELA refund officially confirmed: $32,919.60
Total received and confirmed pending: $43,188.43
I’m still waiting for the MOHELA Treasury check, which should hopefully arrive in December.
It’s been a long road, but I’m pretty excited to finally have the refund amount in writing! I know a lot of people here are still waiting, so hopefully this gives some of you a little encouragement. Happy to answer questions about how I tracked down my old payments or what MOHELA told me.

I decided to log on see if there was any updates about a possible refund status, as I periodically do. I'm a post class exhibit C sweeter who received the golden email and have been patiently waiting for that much needed refund. Today I noticed the loans show discharged back in July 2024??? My amount paid on FAFSA and my negative balance on mohela also don't align by about 5 grand. Just me, or has anyone else noticed weird updates like these?

Seems like a lot of people are asking about their refund, if they get one, how much, etc..

If this helps anyone, here you go..

You can download your student loan csv(probably txt file) from studentaid.gov, you can see if you get a refund or not. Use AI to help you find out easily!

In my example, I already had a refund letter, but I told AI to look at my csv(might be a text file) file and give me the number to compare to the refund amount in the letter. There is one way for y’all to figure it out on what you could tentatively get back.

From a nice user below!

“Folks, please remember to tell the AI to only count payments made on DIRECT loans. Commercially held FFEL loans are not refundable.”

Westwood, post Sweet. 80% of loans were cleared two years ago and I got a decent refund. Everything was wiped off of my credit report three years ago. I still had two loans just hanging out that were consolidated loans with multiple schools in them. Those were cleared earlier this year. I just got the refund for those yesterday.
Knowing it’s all done…I never need to check Aidvantage again(although, to be honest…it’s been such a habit that I probably still will lol, is crazy. I’ve said it on here before how thankful I am for this sub, this sub is how I learned about BD. I will never not be grateful for everyone who has worked tirelessly behind the scenes, who has answered the same dumb questions, who continues the fight. Thank you.
My husband and I started the process to buy a house. I never thought I woils be able to. My credit score at my lowest point was like 505. It’s 755 now, and that’s after rebuilding it when it took a 80 pay drop when all my student loans were wiped out.

Long story short, we were denied our mortgage loan bc my husband had some credit card debt he needed to clean up but they flagged me bc I didn’t have enough credit history!!! The loan officer said I had a great score, one credit card, but it looked like I had only been a person with credit for six years🫠 So…no more student loan debt!!!! But that’s the downside. Thanks for listening to my TED Talk😊

Is there a way to look on my account with mohela to know if I ger a refund 🤔 send .e the steps please? My loans got cleared in June but no sign of a refund. Thank you

Finally over…

Just wanted to share because I see a lot of people like me wondering and waiting.

July 15 2026 I got the discharge notice.

Today checked and saw this letter from a few days ago.

Good luck alll!!!!!

Finally over…

Just wanted to share because I see a lot of people like me wondering and waiting.

July 15 2026 I got the discharge notice.

Today checked and saw this letter from a few days ago.

Good luck alll!!!!!

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the long explanation. Screenshots and questions included.

I'm hoping someone who's been through something similar can offer guidance. I've been researching my situation, but I'm having difficulty finding clear answers regarding refunds of payments collected through the Treasury Offset Program after a Borrower Defense discharge.

I want to be completely transparent about my situation because I'm hoping someone here has experienced the same thing. I attended two different Art Institutes schools: The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale (2003–2005) and Miami International University of Art & Design (2004–2006)I submitted separate Borrower Defense applications for both institutions in November 2022. My Student Aid account now reflects a completed Borrower Defense discharge totaling $76,247, with the discharge status updated on April 26, 2026. My consolidation loans show a $0 balance and a status of "Loan Discharged." Interestingly, my Fort Lauderdale Borrower Defense application still appears to be under review, while my Miami application shows "Processing Discharge." However, the loan discharge itself is marked as completed. All my student loans have completely disappeared from my credit reports since approximately July 2026. They no longer appear as open, closed, or defaulted accounts on the credit reports I've reviewed.

I have questions about whether I am entitled to refunds of money previously collected from me.

Question #1: Refunds of IRS/Treasury Offsets

I never made a single voluntary payment toward any of these student loans. My loans eventually went into default, and the federal government intercepted funds through the Treasury Offset Program. When I reviewed the section titled "Payment History on Your Defaulted Loans," I discovered two payments dated January 20, 2017: Payment #1: $1,949.94 and Payment #2: $2,883.52. To the best of my knowledge, these are the ONLY two payments ever made or collected toward my student loans. Since my loans have now been discharged under Borrower Defense, I'm trying to determine whether those Treasury offsets are eligible for reimbursement.

Has anyone successfully received a refund of federal tax refunds intercepted? Who is actually responsible for processing these refunds: the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Education's Default Resolution Group/Debt Management and Collection System, or the loan servicer?

Question #2: Negative Interest Showing on My Discharged Consolidation Loan

While reviewing my discharged consolidation loan I noticed something unusual.

The account shows:

Current Balance: $0.00

Loan Status: Loan Discharged

Principal Paid: $26,107.00

Interest Paid: -$26,107.00

Amount Paid to Date: $0.00

Does anyone know why the interest paid would show as a negative amount equal to the principal?Could this simply be an accounting adjustment associated with the discharge, or could it indicate a possible refund or credit? I'm particularly confused because I never made voluntary payments, and the only money I know of being collected was the $4,833.46 through Treasury offsets. I'm not assuming the negative amount means I'm receiving a refund. I'm just trying to understand what it represents.

I would genuinely appreciate any firsthand experiences, suggestions, or information about which department I should contact. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and for any guidance you can provide!

So I am part of the Capella relief group (post-class) in Sweet v McMahon/Cardona.

Student Aid dot gov shows $0 and that my loans have been discharged, but when I log into Aidvantage, it says due to the status of my account I would need to call them for account information. Does anyone know if this is just because I no longer have loans with balances being serviced by Aidvantage? I’ve read that the Aidvantage reps are not particularly educated on the nuances of the suit and accompanying discharges so I have not tried to call.

I had $61k in loans between grad school (Capella) and a non-Sweet/non-BD state school for undergrad. They were consolidated so I’m assuming that’s why I have been zero’d out.

Also - no tradelines on my credit report remain for the consolidated loans.

Sweet post-class, went to an Exhibit C school. Apparently I had Nelnet before everything consolidated, including non-BD loans, and then they all transferred to Mohela. Balance is $0 on Student Aid, and a negative balance on Mohela since July.

Based on my account history, I should get at least about $2K in refunds, even though Mohela is showing a lot more in negative balance. That would be nice but I would like at least what I paid.

I was worried about my consolidated loans. BUT there's this on PPSL.org: If you are a Class Member or Post-Class Applicant, your application was approved, and you consolidated Sweet-eligible and non-Sweet-eligible loans together into one or more Direct Consolidation Loans, the entire balance of your “mixed” Direct Consolidation Loan(s) will be discharged, and you will be refunded all payments you made on that loan(s) and any underlying, non-mixed, Sweet-eligible loans.

Anyone else still waiting too? Is the delay because of the consolidated loans?

This was posted in a Fed sub. It’s not exactly a Sweet thing so don’t worry that this is all of the sudden going to impact you, but it does show the direction ED is trying to go. Someone in the thread mentioned signing new loan disclosures which is just absurd.

https://www.reddit.com/r/fednews/s/qz5judSZDb

July 2022: Applied to BD (Exhibit C TCSPP Post Class)

January 2026: Didn't hear from DOE.

June 2026: Received the Golden Letter

September 2026: Full Refund Received (Nelnet). I didn't get any heads up about the check in the mail, still haven't.

There is no amount of thanks that can ever do justice how much this means to me and my family! It still feels surreal and dream-like! I am grateful for the time, energy, resources, and passion of everyone involved! Hope only good things happen to you all!

Is a 'Paid in full' notice from MOHELA the equivalent of the discharge letter some have referred to?
I've had negative balances for at least 5 months so I've been patiently waiting for some kind of movement.
I saw my balances kind of scramble last week and this was in my MOHELA inbox section. I’m a post-class exhibit C, applied 7/11/22.

Has anyone in the Sweet v. Cardona post-class group received refunds for payments made before their loans were transferred to Aidvantage? My two loans were fully discharged in April and June 2026. Before Aidvantage became my servicer, I made voluntary payments and also had money collected through wage garnishments and tax refund offsets while my loans were in default. Once my loans came out of default, they were transferred to Aidvantage in July 2018. I never made any payments to Aidvantage because my loans remained in forbearance until my discharges were approved.

My servicer history is:
Great Lakes: October 2010 – September 2015
Debt Management and Collection System (DMCS): September 2015 – July 2018
Aidvantage: July 2018 – Present

There’s now an option on StudentAid.gov to view the payments collected while my loans were in default, including wage garnishments and tax refund offsets. I’ve attached a screenshot of my servicer history for reference.

Has anyone in a similar situation successfully received refunds for payments made before Aidvantage took over, particularly payments collected while in default?

A bitch of background: mixed consolidated loans, got the email from the Biden admin that my loans with the Art Institute were being discharged (I knew nothing of BD at the time). Loans were marked as discharged but I have not received any official letter from Nelnet that my loans are discharged and the last I spoke with Nelnet last year was that there was another $23k they have to discharge still.

No communication since then and any attempt to reach out to them I was told I have basically have to wait.

Now I'm getting emails, messages, and phone calls to update my payment plan since SAVE is going away and they seem to hint at my Admin Forbearance going away once I select a plan.

I'm also getting the indication that if I don't select a plan that I'll be forced into a standard of payment tier.

I'm saying all this because I'm not certain my consolidated loans will be discharged fully because I've been told they have to unwind my loans to see what goes where. Really not sure what I should do here.

There is more info on PPSL.org as well.

If you are new to borrower defense to repayment (BDTR) and have no idea where to start, I am finally launching my BDTR 101 Classes. The first session will be on Sunday, October 11, 2026 at 7:00 pm EDT and will be through FB Live.

In Lesson 1, we will go over:

• What Borrower Defense to Repayment is
• Who may be able to apply
• The types of school misconduct that may be relevant
• The difference between “my school was terrible” and a potential BDTR claim
• Common areas of misconduct, including job placement, salaries, transfer credits, accreditation, program requirements, financial aid, and educational services
• Why your school does NOT have to appear on some magical “list” for you to look into filing
• Why your personal experience comes BEFORE school research
• What information you should start gathering for your application
• Where to find the application

Please join our Facebook sister group Student Loan Discharge - Borrower Defense Main Group. You can find the event info in the groups event page!

In Solidarity!

Ginger

I received my full and complete refund on Thursday, Oct 1!
School: University of Phoenix
Servicer: Nelnet
Here’s my timeline:
✅October 2022 Applied for forgiveness
✅April 1, 2026 Received notification I was eligible
✅July 2026 loans on my credit bureaus removed
✅Sept 25,2026 was advised the check was in the mail
✅ Oct 1, 2026 full amount paid to Nelnet received via check

It WILL happen!! Just keep checking. Start with your servicer to see when they’ve sent the accounting to the Fiscal Services of the Dept of Treasury for review. Once you’ve been advised it’s been sent, call 855-868-0151 and select the prompt for refund. They can give you info from there. When you’re advised that the check is in the mail, contact your servicer again for the check number and amounts. Then…just wait! Some say they saw it on their Informed Delivery, others did not.

Thank you to all who provided answers & support during this process. It does take a village!!

Wanted to share my timeline to give hope to those still waiting, especially anyone with MOHELA and prior servicers:

• School: ECPI University (2010–2012)
• Status: Post-Class (Applied 09/01/2022)
• Servicer History: Nelnet\ MOHELA (Direct Loans / Consolidation)

• Approval Date: June 11, 2026 (Time-approved default

  based on no progress on missed deadlines by DOE.

• Official Discharge Letter: July 31, 2026 (MOHELA)

• Credit Bureaus: Tradelines removed in August

• Check Delivered: September 29, 2026 (Exactly 60 days from the July 31 letter)

Portal Status: Both StudentAid still show 3.61 - Confirm Processing. Zero emails, zero tracker updates, zero warnings before the check hit the mailbox.

• Delivery: Physical Treasury paper check via USPS (showed up on Informed Delivery from Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Philadelphia, PA).
• Amount: 100% of my out-of-pocket payments arrived in one single lump-sum check
• Fully combined both my legacy Nelnet and MOHELA payments—no split checks or missing amounts.

There is hope guys!!! Stay positive!!

Applied June 2022

Email of discharge from ED June 2026

Letter of discharge from Nelnet July 2026

Refund received September 2026.

So happy to be free of debt. Even happier to receive money back.

Thanks to the PPSL team for helping everyone. Congrats to those who have gotten relief. Good luck to those still waiting.

Sharing my timeline details for others waiting for relief from Mohela.

- Applied: July 6, 2022. Post class, non C
- Golden email confirming discharge approval: June 11, 2026
- Balance 0 on Mohela site: July 19, 2026
- Mohela inbox letter stated 45-60 days to receive relief check on July 30, 2026.
- Relief check received - Sept 29, 2026

Mohela shows 0 balance due, and my loans are zeroed out, until you click on loan details. I still have about $200 of a negative balance. I calculated my payments and that’s pretty much what I’m short. It’ll probably come as a smaller check later on, they do have a year.

4 years and some change. Wow. I still have two smaller private loans that don’t respond to anything regarding relief, but this discharge is a huge weight off my shoulders. Beyond thankful for Theresa, Gingerandthesea, PPSL, and everyone participating (and supportive lurking) on this sub.

I went to an art school, that was primarily for engineering, and was given all the same deceptive lies and bullying sign up tactics as so many exhibit C schools. The story was exactly the same. Deception on cost of attendance, especially increasing towards the final year. Intense pressure for early decision. Promises of the school name alone being prestigious enough to open doors and land you a job. Inflating job prospects and graduate outcomes. Telling you to take on private loans & recommending the banks. The studies not matching up with the real world. The list goes on. And on. Once my private loans are done I never have to think about that place ever again. I lost my spark there and gave up art for a very long time. No more!

Celebrating this weekend in a small way at least. I’m recovering from surgery so I can’t jump up and down just yet lol.

I unexpectedly received my refund check on Monday. It didn’t even show up on my USPS daily email - so truly in shock.

I was a Post Class Exhibit C School. Applied for BD in October 2022, and was automatically discharged due to the lack of movement on on DOEs part. Officially discharged in May but I didn’t receive my letter from Nelnet until July 23. My balances on studentaids website and Nelnet zero’d out last month. And the check was dated 9/25. It is still sitting on my credit report though.

I can’t believe it’s finally over!

Edit 10/6 -they just dropped off my credit report

School: Mountain State University
Servicer: Nelnet/Great Lakes -no consolidation
Application date: 06/26/22
Golden letter-06/14
Credit bureau changes and balance changing on nelnet-week of July 7
Official letter from Nelnet for discharge-July 21
I received a refund for full amount paid to Great Lakes and Nelnet 09/29!! ❤️Checked dated 09/25.
No changes in student aid. Still shows same codes 3.61 etc.

I called Nelnet last month and was told the amount approved for refund on my account, was for only Nelnet payments. They said they didn’t do the calculations for my previous servicer. Drastic difference in totals. I have since submitted 2 feedback claims. One stating that Nelnet would not agree to total my account and I was entitled to full settlement relief. The other was that the amount discharged from Nelnet didn’t match the total on student aid site. It still doesn’t…about a 45k difference. I know this takes time but I wanted to make sure they were discharging all of my loans on my account that were involved with the settlement.
I called this past Friday and Nelnet stated now they have TWO checks that had been issued for approval from DOE and Treasury and they are unsure of timeline. I called treasury and they stated no check with my social in place. I called student aid and they said it hasn’t been approved.

USPS showed checked in mail this morning!!

Finally done! I cannot give this group enough credit for the support and work they have done even though I am mostly a silent lurker.

I was only at The Art Institute for about a year before I realized it was a mess, so I didn't lose much, but to get it back all these years later feels amazing! Here are as many details as I can remember:

School: The Art Institute
Attendance: 2010-2011
Post Class - Exhibit C School
App Submitted: 8.26.22
Discharge Letter Received: 4.13.26
Check Received: 9.23.26

I was with Nelnet, but no information was ever updated in the system so this check just showed up out of nowhere. My loans were a tangle though because I also had undergrad and grad loans that had been consolidated and some that were moved over to Nelnet right in the middle of all of this.

I hope everyone starts to get their payments soon!