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Issue Encyclopedia · Guideline F · Financial

Student Loan Debt

What the decided record shows for this issue, computed from public DOHA hearing-level decisions. Descriptive history, not a prediction.

Does student loan debt affect a security clearance?

Student Loan Debt is an issue decided under Guideline F, Financial. In the decided DOHA record it appears in 2,242 hearing-level cases, and 32% of the 2,242 decided ended with access granted (719 granted, 1,523 denied). The mitigating conditions judges credited most often, and example decisions either way, are below.

Basis: 2,242 decided hearing-level cases raising this issue. Descriptive history of decided cases, not a prediction.

More questions people ask the record

Decided cases

2,242

hearing-level decisions raising this issue

Granted

32%

719 granted · 1,523 denied or revoked

Official mitigating conditions cited

The formal mitigating conditions the case profiles identified on this issue, in cases that were granted and in cases that were denied. Each is shown with its paragraph number and a plain name. Read what each condition says.

  • ¶ 20(d) · A good-faith effort to repay or otherwise resolve the debts

    In granted cases
    375
    In denied cases
    59

  • ¶ 20(b) · Conditions largely beyond the person's control, met responsibly

    In granted cases
    343
    In denied cases
    29

  • ¶ 20(c) · Counseling received, with clear signs the problem is being resolved

    In granted cases
    224
    In denied cases
    22

  • ¶ 20(a) · So long ago, or so infrequent, that it is unlikely to recur

    In granted cases
    113
    In denied cases
    2

  • ¶ 20(e) · A reasonable and documented basis to dispute the debt

    In granted cases
    22
    In denied cases
    7

  • ¶ 20(g) · An arrangement made with the tax authority, and kept

    In granted cases
    18
    In denied cases
    8

Circumstances credited in granted cases

The specific circumstances the judge expressly credited among the granted cases on this issue where that detail was extracted.
  • debt paid in full · credited in 3 granted cases
  • payment plan with creditor · credited in 2 granted cases
  • rehabilitation evidence · credited in 1 granted case

Recent decided examples

  • ISCR Case No. 24-01243Granted2026

    Applicant, a veteran and longtime cleared contractor, faced financial trouble after a contentious divorce, related tax issues, and temporary employment disruption. The SOR alleged tax debts, a car lea…

  • ISCR Case No. 26-00016Granted2026

    Applicant, a pro se security clearance applicant, faced seven delinquent debts totaling about $39,000 under Guideline F. The record showed the debts arose during pregnancy, childbirth, single parentho…

  • ISCR Case No. 26-00716Denied2026

    The applicant, a 32-year-old Systems Engineer, faced security clearance denial due to significant financial issues, including approximately $110,000 in delinquent student loans. Despite admitting to t…

  • ISCR Case No. 25-01358Denied2026

    The case involves an applicant seeking security clearance who was denied due to significant financial issues, including failure to file tax returns for multiple years and substantial delinquent debts …

See all 2,242 decisions on this issue

Related issues under Guideline F

How these numbers are measured

Scope: decided hearing-level cases whose per-allegation profile records this issue, matched to the same issue value the search filters use, so a count here and a filtered search always agree. A case raising several issues counts under each one. The mitigating conditions and the credited circumstances below were extracted for a subset of the record, so both are counts of cases rather than rates. Pages exist only for issues with at least 25 decided cases, and † marks any split built on fewer than 20.

Reading the statistics

  • Granted = access granted or continued; Denied = denied or revoked.
  • Grant rate = granted ÷ (granted + denied).
  • † marks figures based on fewer than 20 cases, too few to be reliable.
  • Hovering any rate shows its statistical range (a 95% confidence interval).
  • Figures are descriptive counts over decided, public DOHA ISCR decisions, never predictions or assessments of any pending case.

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