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Deferment
If you ever have a problem making your monthly loan payments, you may be able to postpone repayment through deferment or forbearance. Each has separate conditions and requirements.
If you have a deferment, you may postpone making payments on your loan under certain specific conditions. If you have Direct Loans only, you may defer repayment if you are
enrolled at least half time in a program of study that meets the U.S.
Department of Education's requirements for program eligibility (you may not
defer repayment while in a medical internship or residency program, except a
residency program in dentistry)
enrolled
in a graduate fellowship program approved by the U.S. Department of Education
enrolled
in a rehabilitation training program for persons with disabilities that the
U.S. Department of Education's has approved You also may be eligible for
deferment for a period of up to three years if you are
seeking, but unable to find, full-time employment
experiencing, or will experience, economic hardship (talk to the Servicing
Center for more information on this deferment) You may be eligible for
additional deferments if, at the time you obtain a Direct Loan, you have an
outstanding balance on an FFEL. You can find out about these extra deferments
from your financial aid office.
During deferment of Direct Subsidized Loans, you don't have to pay any principal, and interest isn't charged. For Direct Unsubsidized Loans and Direct PLUS Loans, payments on the principal may be deferred, but interest is charged. You may choose to pay this interest or have it capitalized (added to your principal balance) at the end of the deferment period.
If you have a Direct Consolidation Loan, payment of principal may be deferred. Interest may, however, accumulate during deferment, depending on what loans you've consolidated. Check with the financial aid office or your Direct Loan Servicing Center to find out whether interest will accumulate on your Direct Consolidation Loan.
If you meet one of the deferment conditions and you want to postpone repayment of your loan, contact your Servicing Center and ask for the appropriate deferment form. You'll have to provide documentation to prove you meet the requirements for the deferment you're seeking. The deferment form will explain what information you must provide.
Be sure to make loan payments while you're waiting for your deferment to be approved; if you don't, your loan may become delinquent or even go into default.
If you can't make payments on your Direct Loan for reasons such as unexpected personal problems or poor health and you don't qualify for a deferment, you may request forbearance of loan payments.
During forbearance, you can temporarily stop making payments, or you can make smaller payments than originally scheduled. You may request forbearance of principal, interest, or both. Even if you receive a forbearance for the interest, it will continue to accumulate during the forbearance period and will be capitalized (added to your loan principal) when the forbearance ends.
You may also receive forbearance if you meet one of the following conditions:
You
serve in a medical or dental internship or residency.
You
serve in a position under the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993.
(This deferment applies to Direct Stafford Loan borrowers only.)
You are
obligated to make payments on your federal student loans that are equal to, or
greater than, 20 percent of your total monthly gross income. Contact the
Servicing Center to request forbearance. In most cases, you'll be asked to
provide documentation showing that you qualify. As with deferments, continue to
make payments on your loan while you're waiting for forbearance approval.
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