Deferments
A deferment allows you to temporarily postpone your payments on a Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loan. FFELP loans consist of subsidized and unsubsidized Federal Stafford loans, SLS loans and Federal PLUS loans. If you have a subsidized Federal Stafford loan, the federal government will pay the interest that accrues during the deferment. If you have other loan types, you will be responsible for the interest that accrues during deferment.
Deferments are granted for specific situations and have certain time limits and conditions for eligibility. You are entitled to a deferment if you meet the eligibility requirements and provide your lender with the necessary documentation. All of this is based on when you first received your FFELP loan. In most cases, you are not automatically granted a deferment; you must formally request a deferment through the procedures established by your loan holder. You must continue making payments until you’re notified that the deferment has been granted.
If you need to temporarily postpone your monthly payments, click on the following deferments to learn more about the qualifications and decide if you are eligible. And, don’t forget to contact your loan holder!
Deferment Form Instructions:
Form |
Deferment Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
In-School |
You must be enrolled at an eligible school on at least a half-time basis. |
|
Graduate Fellowship Program |
You must be engaged in a full-time course of study in a Graduate Fellowship Program. |
|
Rehabilitation Training Program |
You must be engaged in a full-time rehabilitation training program. |
|
Teacher Shortage |
You must be teaching full-time in a public or nonprofit private elementary or secondary school in a geographic region, grade level, and meet other specific criteria as defined by the U.S. Department of Education. |
|
Internship/Residency |
You must be engaged in an Internship/Residency Program in an institute of higher education, hospital or health care facility and meet other specific criteria. |
|
Unemployment |
You must be seeking but unable to find full-time employment in the U.S. in any field or at any salary or responsibility level. |
|
Economic Hardship |
You must receive federal or state public assistance or earn less than a federal minimum wage or exceed a federally defined debt-to-income ratio to receive this deferment. |
|
Temporary Total Disability |
You must be unable to work and earn money or go to school for at least 60 days in order to recover from an injury or illness or care for a spouse or dependent with an illness or injury. The condition cannot have existed before you applied for the loan(s). |
|
Military |
You must be serving on active duty during a war or other military operation, or national emergency, or performing qualifying National Guard duty during a war or military operation or national emergency. |
|
|
Post-Active Duty Student Deferment |
This deferment is available to a borrower who is called or ordered to active duty service while enrolled at least half-time in an eligible school at the time of, or within six months prior to, his or her activation. |
Armed Forces |
You must be on active duty in the Armed Forces in the U.S. and you must have agreed to serve for at least one year. |
|
Public Health Services |
You must be serving full-time as an officer in the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service and meet other conditions. |
|
Peace Corps |
You must have agreed to serve in the Peace Corps for at least one year and must meet other criteria conditions. |
|
ACTION Program |
You must be a full-time paid volunteer in ACTION Programs for last one year and meet other conditions. |
|
Tax-Exempt Organization Volunteer |
You must be serving full-time in an organization that is tax exempt, have agreed to serve at least one year and meet other criteria conditions. |
|
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corps (NOAA) |
You must be on active duty in the NOAA and meet other criteria conditions. |
|
Parental Leave |
You must be pregnant or caring for a newborn or newly adopted child; must not be working full-time or attending school and meet other criteria conditions. |
|
Working Mother |
You must be a mother of preschool-age child, be working full-time but earning not more than $1 above minimum wage and meet other criteria conditions. |
|
In-School (PLUS Loans) |
You (PLUS borrower) or the dependent for whom a PLUS loan is obtained must be enrolled at an eligible school and meet other criteria conditions. |
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