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Study Up on Repayment Support

The Stafford and Perkins Loan programs recognize that bad things can happen to good people, so they include two primary repayment support options that may be available to you that may either reduce or eliminate your payments for a period of time when you are having difficulty making your payments.  You won’t need to access them until you enter repayment, but take some time to familiarize yourself with these options now.

Details on deferment and forbearance are available at FinAid!, from your loan servicer(s), or from the Department of Education.  If you have Direct Loans, the Department of Education has forms for deferment and forbearance.

Special Tips:

• Neither Deferment nor Forbearance will adversely impact your credit.
• Both Deferment and Forbearance keep your loans in Good Standing.
• Both can cause your loan balance to increase.

If you expect to have more permanent problems with repayment, you may also have to utilize the different repayment schedules available for your loans, as discussed above.  Again, these alternative repayment schedules may lower the monthly amount due, but at a cost of extending your loan repayment term and increasing the amount required to fully pay off your loans.

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