Aroon has a loan from a qualified lender that he used to pay his college tuition. His remaining student - loan balance of $5,000 was canceled in 2020. Under the pre-2021 rules, the canceled debt may be excluded if any of the following is true, EXCEPT: It was canceled pursuant to a state repayment program because he agreed to work for specified period of time as a nurse at a state hospital. He can demonstrate his income was below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines for the three consecutive years prior to cancellation. His employer repaid the loan balance as one of the education fringe benefits offered to employees. He applied for and received a discharge of his loan under the "Closed School" discharge process