Private School Certification for the Federal Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program

The Teacher Cancellation Low Income (TCLI) Directory lists low-income elementary schools, secondary schools, and educational service agencies (ESAs) that qualify as low-income for purposes of the federal student aid programs, including the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan and Federal Family Education Loan teacher loan forgiveness program, Federal Perkins Loan/National Direct Student Loan teacher cancellation, and the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program.

Certification of a private school will result in the school being placed on TCLI Directory.

The criteria for determining private school eligibility for certification are:

• Must be registered as a nonprofit private school with the Florida Department of Education (department) and;
• Provide the department with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) correspondence demonstrating the school's Nonprofit Status and;
• School must serve students in Elementary and/or Secondary (K-12), please note that schools with Pre-K only programs or classes are not currently eligible for certification and;
• Schools must determine that 35% or more of their students are considered low-income in relation to the total membership (K-12) of the school.

Once a private school determines that they meet all the above eligibility criteria, they should complete the Nonprofit Private School TLCI Directory Application (PDF) to request certification and submit to FLDOE with supporting documentation, such as Parent Income Surveys (PDF) or other verifiable parent income data. Please note that, a separate form is needed for each private school and a new form is required to be submitted for each school year they’d like to be certified for.

A letter will be sent to the requestor verifying school certification or denial once the department determines the outcome of the application.

Submit All Required Documentation To:
Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice OR FAX 850-245-0875
Turlington Building - Florida Department of Education
325 W. Gaines Street, Room 1044
Tallahassee, FL 32399

Questions regarding this form may be directed to schoolchoice@fldoe.org.

Note: The department does NOT make determinations to teacher loan forgiveness. All questions about loan reductions need to be asked by the teachers to their loan company. Information concerning the cancellation or reduction of loans can be found at the following Federal site:
https://studentaid.gov/