Graduation Reward Terms and Conditions

(applicable for variable interest rate loan applications submitted prior to May 1, 2014)

Call 1-800-STUDENT when you are ready to redeem your 2% Graduation Reward

The Terms and Conditions have been updated April, 2023.

These Terms and Conditions describe the eligibility and redemption policy for the Graduation Reward. "You" refers to the borrower. "We" refers to Discover® Bank.

Graduation Reward Eligibility

You will be eligible to receive a Graduation Reward if:

  • You graduate from the degree program (undergraduate program or graduate program) that the loan was used to fund, and
  • Your graduation date is more than 90 days and is less than 6 years after the date of the loan's first disbursement, and
  • You have an outstanding principal balance on your loan on the last day of the month of your graduation, and
  • Your loan has not been refinanced or consolidated with another lender prior to redeeming the reward, and
  • Your loan is not in default on the graduation date, and
  • You are the student borrower who submitted an application prior to May 1, 2014 for a variable interest rate Undergraduate, Health Professions, Law, MBA or Graduate loan originated by Discover Bank.

Upon graduation, if you have more than one participating loan, you may be eligible to receive a Graduation Reward on each loan. However, you will not receive a Graduation Reward more than once for the same loan, even if you receive more than one degree. We may request proof of your graduation date and degree from you or your school to confirm eligibility for the Graduation Reward. If you default on your loan or consolidate or refinance your loan with another lender prior to redeeming the Graduation Reward, you will not be eligible for a Graduation Reward.

Graduation Reward Amount

We will calculate the Graduation Reward by multiplying the outstanding principal balance of your loan on the last day of the month of graduation by 2% (0.02) and rounding to the nearest cent. The outstanding principal balance used for the calculation will not include accrued and unpaid interest on your loan on the last day of the month of your graduation, which may be capitalized when your loan enters its repayment period.

If there is an overpayment due to an error, we reserve the right to increase the principal balance of your loan by the amount of the overpayment of the Graduation Reward. It is your responsibility to notify us if there is an error in the Graduation Reward calculation or if you do not receive an expected Graduation Reward redemption.

This reward may have tax impacts. Rewards redeemed on or after January 1, 2018 will reduce the amount of interest we report on Form 1098-E (Student Loan Interest Statement) over the remaining life of your loan. In some instances, we may issue you a Form 1099-MISC for some or all of your reward amount, such as if you pay off the entirety of your loan before the end of your repayment term. We are not able to provide you with tax advice. If you have any questions, we encourage you to consult a tax advisor.

Graduation Reward Redemption

You must redeem your Graduation Reward in full in a single redemption transaction, and you may choose from one of the following options:

  • A credit to the balance of any of your Discover Student Loans
  • An electronic deposit into a bank account

Please call us at 1-800-STUDENT to redeem your Graduation Reward. We will process your Graduation Reward within 90 days of your redemption request.

Changes to These Terms and Conditions

These Terms and Conditions are subject to change without notice. We may change them at any time including, but not limited to, changing the redemption methods or imposing additional conditions.

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