Gather and make copies of the financial paperwork that you'll use to prove to your loan servicer that you are facing a financial hardship. Your savings and checking account statements, last two paychecks (if you have found a job) and most recent federal income tax return can offer proof that your gross monthly income is low. At the same time, copies of your credit card bills and current student loan statement can demonstrate how high your monthly debt obligations are.
Write a hardship letter. This letter should spell out clearly and succinctly why you can't afford your monthly student loan payments. You might not have been able to find a job. Maybe the job you did land pays at minimum-wage levels. Maybe you've suffered a serious illness or injury that has prevented you from entering the workforce. Whatever the reason, include it in your letter. Also include your request that your servicer eliminate all or part of your student loan debt.
Contact the servicer of your student loan at the number provided on your most recent statement and explain that you can no longer afford your monthly payments. Explain, too, that you would like your servicer to eliminate some or all of your outstanding loan debt. Tell your servicer what financial hardship is causing you to struggle to make your payments.
Send to your servicer by e-mail, mail or fax the paperwork that you copied in Step 1, as well as your financial hardship letter. The servicing company will now look at these papers to determine if your financial hardship is severe enough to qualify you for a student-loan modification.
Agree to a modification of your student loan if the servicing company approves your request. In an ideal world, your servicing company will eliminate all of your debt. This will rarely happen, though; in all but the most severe of financial cases, your company will probably instead propose another alternative. It might offer to reduce your principal balance by eliminating a portion of your loan debt. It might offer to lower your interest rate. Or it might propose lengthening the life of your loan to lower your payments.