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You can also log in or visit our Contact Us page to contact a representative. Great Lakes is a Servicer to Federal Student Aid You have a network of support to help you succeed with your federal student loan repayment. Tweet on Twitter. Share on Facebook. Free Expert Help! This deferment is available for borrowers serving in the military on active duty or in the National Guard on qualifying duty during a war or other military operation, or during a national emergency.
The service period must begin on or after October 1, , or include that date. You must be on active duty in the NOAA. The cumulative maximum time limit for this deferment is 36 months, inclusive of any Public Health Services and Armed Forces deferment time used. You may defer payments while pregnant or caring for a newborn or newly adopted child, if you were in school within the past six months and are no longer enrolled or working full-time.
This deferment is available to borrowers whose first Stafford or SLS loan was disbursed before July 1, You must be pregnant or caring for a newborn or newly adopted child. Also, you must have been enrolled in school at least half-time within the preceding six months and not currently attending school or working full-time. In the case of caring for a newborn or newly adopted child, the mother or father may qualify for the deferment.
The maximum time period for each occurrence is six months. You must be a full-time volunteer in the Peace Corps and serving for a period of at least one year.
Note: If you are in the Peace Corps and your first loan was disbursed on or after July 1, , you may be eligible for an Economic Hardship Deferment see above for details. This deferment is available to borrowers who are members of the Armed Forces Reserve or National Guard including retired members and are called to active duty while still enrolled in school, or within six months after ceasing to be enrolled, on at least a half-time basis.
The maximum time period for each occurrence is 13 months. If your parents took out a loan to help you pay for school, or you took out a GradPLUS loan for graduate studies, payments may be deferred until six months after you graduate or leave school.
For a parent borrower or a graduate or professional student who obtained a PLUS loan on or after July 1, , the PLUS loan may be deferred for a six-month period following the date the student ceases to be enrolled on at least a half-time basis.
If you serve full-time as an officer in the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service, you may be able to defer payments. The cumulative maximum time limit for this deferment is 36 months, inclusive of any Armed Forces and NOAA deferment time used. You may qualify for this deferment if you are receiving full-time training from a program that is licensed or approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs for providing rehabilitation training to disabled individuals or by a state agency responsible for vocational rehabilitation, drug abuse treatment, mental health services, or alcohol abuse treatment programs.
For a parent borrower who has an outstanding loan disbursed on or after July 1, , but prior to July 1, , or who had a loan disbursed before July 1, outstanding when he or she obtained a loan after July 1, , the PLUS loan may be deferred if the student is engaged in the rehabilitation training program. To qualify for this deferment, you must be enrolled at least half-time at an eligible school.
For a parent borrower who has an outstanding loan disbursed on or after July 1, , but prior to July 1, , who had a loan disbursed before July 1, , outstanding when he or she obtained a loan after July 1, , or who obtained a PLUS loan on or after July 1, , the PLUS loan may be deferred if the student is enrolled at least half time at an eligible school.
If you volunteer for a tax-exempt organization and make no more than minimum wage, you may qualify for this deferment. You must be a full-time, paid volunteer in a tax-exempt organization that provides services to low-income individuals and their communities, and you must be earning no more than minimum wage. You must be serving for a period of at least one year. This deferment is available to borrowers whose first loan was disbursed prior to July 1, You must be temporarily totally disabled, which means you are unable to work and earn money or attend school for a period of at least 60 days because of an injury or illness.
You are also eligible for this deferment if you are unable to work because of continuously caring over a period of at least 90 days for a dependent or spouse who is temporarily totally disabled due to an injury or illness. Unemployment qualifies you for deferment if you are actively seeking but unable to find full-time employment in the United States. Full-time employment is defined as at least 30 hours of work per week in a position that is expected to last at least three months.
The cumulative maximum time limit for this deferment is 36 months for borrowers who obtained their first loan on or after July 1, , or 24 months for all others. The cumulative maximum time limit for this deferment is 12 months.
If you are not able to make payments and your situation does not qualify you for a deferment, you may request forbearance. There are several types of forbearance available. Borrowers serving in the National Guard not covered by the military deferment may request this forbearance. This forbearance is for borrowers who are not eligible for the military deferment.
To qualify for this forbearance, you must be a member of the National Guard including a retired member ; called to active duty while still enrolled in school, or within six months after ceasing to be enrolled, on at least a half-time basis; and performing active military state duty during a period when the governor activates National Guard personnel. Forbearance is granted in periods up to 12 months at a time. To qualify for this forbearance, you must be performing national service that qualifies for partial repayment of your loan under the National and Community Service Trust Act of You must provide a statement from an authorized CNCS official certifying eligibility and the begin and end dates of the service period.
If you serve in the DoD and participate in its student loan repayment program, you may qualify for forbearance. To qualify for this forbearance, you must be participating in the DoD's loan repayment program and provide a statement from an authorized DoD official certifying eligibility and the beginning and end dates you are expected to perform service that qualifies you for partial repayment of your loan.
Forbearance is granted in periods of up to 12 months at a time. If you've been affected by a disaster, we know there are challenges ahead that may affect your ability to make your student loan payments. A Disaster forbearance can help by temporarily postponing your federal student loan payments for up to 90 days as you take care of recovering.
It only takes a few minutes to get relief! Call us at If you cannot make your regular payments and do not qualify for other relief options, the hardship forbearance may be for you. You may qualify for this forbearance if you are willing but temporarily unable to make scheduled payments and do not qualify for a deferment or other type of forbearance.
You must provide a statement from an authorized program official, and possibly a state licensing agency, certifying eligibility and the begin and end dates of the program.
Select your payment amount on this plan. The requested payment amount must cover at least the estimated monthly interest accrued. If you are currently delinquent on your loan, we will process a hardship forbearance to bring your account current. You will need to provide proof of income as well as documentation of your monthly payments due on any Title IV loans not serviced by Nelnet. Forbearance is granted in periods of up to 12 months at a time with a cumulative maximum time limit of 36 months.
Teachers at eligible schools may request forbearance if they are performing teaching service to qualify for loan forgiveness. To qualify for this forbearance, you must be performing qualifying teaching service at an eligible elementary or secondary school or educational service agency.
However, you're essentially "kicking the can down the road," and will eventually have to make payments again—potentially larger ones if unpaid interest accrues during the deferment.
Deferment can be a solution for temporary financial issues that make it difficult to pay your student loans. If you have federal student loans and your financial issues are longer-lasting—for example, you've entered a low-paying career field—an income-based repayment IBR plan may be a better alternative.
IBR is one of four income-driven repayment plans the federal government offers for borrowers whose federal student loan payments are high relative to their incomes. An IBR plan permanently reduces your monthly payments, gives you 20 to 25 years to repay your loan, and may even forgive the loan if it's not paid off in that time. Income-based repayment works like this: If you have federal student loans for undergraduate studies, PLUS loans for graduate education or consolidated federal loans that don't include a parent PLUS loan, complete the online application through the Department of Education or contact your loan servicer.
Once you're approved, your new monthly payment will be calculated based on your income and family size. To maintain your eligibility for the IBR plan, you must "recertify" your income information each year; if your income changes, your loan payment amount may change too. However, your payment will never be higher than it would have been under a standard year student loan repayment plan. The downside of IBR is that you'll be in debt for much longer than you would have been under a year student loan repayment plan.
Carrying this debt can make it harder to qualify for other loans, and if you miss a payment, it can negatively affect your credit. The upside, though, is that if you still haven't paid off your loan after 20 or 25 years of making your payments on time, you'll be eligible for student loan forgiveness, which cancels out any remaining balance.
If you're struggling to make your student loan payments because of short-term financial problems, student loan deferment can offer an opportunity to get your finances in order and help you maintain a good credit score. Depending on the type of loan you have and your situation, you may also want to consider student loan forbearance or income based repayment.
Before applying for a student loan deferment, make sure you know whether you'll be responsible for paying any interest that accrues during deferment and how deferment will affect your overall loan balance.
Talking to your student loan servicer will help you understand the options available so you can make an educated decision. The purpose of this question submission tool is to provide general education on credit reporting. The Ask Experian team cannot respond to each question individually.
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You can defer federal student loans only for so long — in most cases, the maximum is three years total. To apply, send your student loan servicer the appropriate application and any necessary documentation, like proof of unemployment benefits. Your student loan servicer must grant you a deferment if you qualify, but keep making payments until you're officially approved. Here are the most common kinds of federal student loan deferment:.
Those six months are also known as the student loan grace period. If you qualify, you should automatically receive an in-school deferment.
Parent PLUS borrowers can receive a similar deferment while the student using the loan is enrolled at least half-time, but they must request it. Length: This deferment is available as long as you — or the student benefitting from the loan, for parent PLUS borrowers — are enrolled at least half-time.
To qualify for an unemployment deferment , you must be unemployed and doing either of the following:. Diligently seeking full-time work, including registering with an employment agency, provided there is one within 50 miles of your home. Length: Most borrowers can receive up to 36 months of unemployment deferment, and you must reapply every six months. Any of the following can qualify you for an economic hardship deferment:.
Your service must be related to a war, military operation or national emergency to qualify. You can also use it for 13 months after your service ends or until you return to school at least half-time — whichever happens first.
Cancer patients with student debt can request deferment during treatment and for six months following the conclusion of cancer treatment. The request form is available on the student aid website.
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