Student Loan Forbearance & Student Loan Deferment

Options if You Cannot Afford Your Monthly Student Loan Payments.

If you cannot afford to repay your student loan, whether it be a private student loan or a federal student loan, you have two types of options — temporary payment suspension, and changing the loan’s repayment terms. This article discusses both, and contains links to Bills.com resources with more detailed information. In general, borrowers of federal student loans have more options than borrowers of private student loans. Before reading further, stop and review your student loan documents to learn if your loan is federal or private. If your loans are Stafford, Perkins, Plus, or another type of Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loan, then it is a federal loan. If the loan documents do not mention these programs, it is probably a private loan.

Postponing Student Loan Payments: Deferment & Forbearance

Deferment postpones student loan repayment for a designated period. Interest may or may not accrue. Deferment is available for federal student loans and some private student loans. Sallie Mae, a major private student lender, lists the following reasons for granting a deferment:

• Economic hardship
• Unemployment
• Military deployment
• Enrollment in school
• Internship
• National service
• Similar situations

In general, a deferment is not granted if the loan is in default. Therefore, if you know you cannot afford your loan payment and qualify for a deferment, apply for a deferment immediately and before the payments are late.

Forbearance allows the borrower to stop making payments for a set period of time, and up to a year. Interest continues to accrue when a loan is in forbearance. In general, forbearance are easier to obtain than deferments or cancellations. Borrowers in default can, in some circumstances, obtain a forbearance.

If you experience a temporary financial setback and are unable to pay your student loan, contact a customer service representative at your student loan servicer, which is the company you make payments to, and discuss your hardship. Ask about deferment first, then forbearance. See the Bills.com resources Private Student Loan Default and Federal Student Loan Default to learn more.

Student Loan Consolidation & Other Payment Options

A student loan consolidation can combine several student loans into one, and lengthen the term of the loan. Doing so can make the monthly payment amount less. However, lengthening the term will increase the overall cost of the loan, assuming similar interest rates. See the Bills.com resource Student Loan Consolidation to learn more about consolidating student loans, federal and private.

You might qualify for a student loan repayment plan, or a student loan forgiveness if you work in public service. Following the hyperlinks just mentioned to learn more about these options.

Student Loan & Collections

You may be curious what a student loan servicer can do if you stop making payments and do not agree to repayment terms. If the student loan debt is federal, Congress gave the the Dept. of Education the right to garnish wages or withhold a tax return without a hearing. See Repaying Student Loans Held by the U.S. Department of Education and Common Disputes Involving Defaulted Student Loans to learn more about the rules surrounding collections on federal student loans. If the student loan is private, the lender must use the court system to collect the debt, like any other private creditor.

See the Bills.com resource Advice on How to Stop Garnishment on Student Loans to learn more.