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Deferment Provisions - Federal Direct Student Loan


Deferment Condition	Time Limit	Refinanced and Prior Borrowers¹ of Loans (before 7/1/87)	Prior Borrowers²	New Borrowers³
Federal Direct Loans (subsidized & unsubsidized)
Full-time study	None	Yes	Yes	Yes
Half-time study	None	No	Yes	Yes
Graduate fellowship study⁴	None	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rehabilitation	None	Yes	Yes	Yes
US Armed Forces⁵ or Public Health Service	3 yrs.	Yes	Yes	No
Nat'l Oceanic & Atmospheric Admin. (including Military and Public Health Service)	3 yrs.	No	Yes	No
Peace Corps	3 yrs.	Yes	Yes	No
ACTION	3 yrs.	Yes	Yes	No
Temporary total disability (borrower spouse or dependent)	3 yrs.	Yes	Yes	No
Tax-exempt organization	3 yrs.	Yes	Yes	No
Teaching in teacher shortage area	3 yrs.	No	Yes	No
Eligible internship or residency program⁶	2 yrs.	Yes	Yes	No
Unemployment	2 yrs.	Yes	Yes	No
Mother entering work force⁷	1 yr.	No	Yes	No
Inability to secure full-time employment⁸	3 yrs.	No	No	Yes
Economic hardship⁹	3 yrs.	No	No	Yes
Parental leave¹⁰	6 mos.	Yes	Yes	No

Forbearance:

Forbearance is a temporary postponement or reduction of loan payments for a limited and specified period, or an extension of the time you have to repay your loans. You may receive forbearance if you request it and provide documentation to support the request. Contact your lender for specific details.

Footnotes:

Includes student and PLUS Loan borrowers and Consolidation Loans made before November 1, 1983
A borrower who, on the date he or she signs the promissory note, has no outstanding balance on (1) a Stafford Loan, SLS loan, or PLUS Loan made before July 1, 1987 for a period of enrollment beginning before July 1, 1987 or (2) a Consolidation Loan that repaid such a loan.
A new borrower who, on the date he or she applies for a loan, has no outstanding balance on a Stafford Loan, SLS loan, PLUS Loan, or Federal Consolidation Loan made before July1, 1993 and whose first disbursement of the loan is made on or after July 1, 1993.
A Stafford Loan or SLS loan borrower, or a PLUS Loan parent borrower whose loan was made or disbursed on or after July1, 1987 and before July 1, 1993 and who, on the date he or she signed the promissory note, had no outstanding balance on an FFEL made before July 1, 1987 is eligible for deferment while the student is engaged in at-lease-half-time study.
Public Law 102-26 authorized, for the period of April 9, 1991 to September 30, 1997, special Stafford Loan deferment and grace period provisions for reservists called up for active duty service in connection with Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. These benefits are
- A military deferment for the duration of service in connection with Operation Desert Shield or Operation Desert Storm, even if the length of the deferment exceeds the maximum deferment authorized;
- A six-month post deferment grace period following an Operation Desert Shield or Operation Desert Storm military deferment; and
- A one-time six-month post-deferment grace period following an in-school deferment for a borrower who received a military deferment and who later becomes eligible for an in-school deferment.
Periods of service in an eligible internship program; or serving in an internship or residency program leading to a degree or certificate awarded by an institution of higher education, a hospital, or a health-care facility that offers postgraduate training. Lenders are now required to grant forbearance to medical interns and residents who have expended their two-year residency deferments before they have completed their intern and residency requirements for borrowers whose loans were made subsequent to July 1, 1993.
A mother who
- has a preschool-age child;
- is entering or reentering the work force full time; and
- is being paid no more than $1 above the minimum wage.
A borrower who is seeking but who is unable to find, full-time employment.
A borrower is considered to have an economic hardship if the borrower
- is receiving payment under a federal or state public assistance program;
- is working full time but earning an amount that does not exceed the greater of
  - the federal minimum wage, or
  - an amount equal to 100 percent of the poverty line for a family of two as determined according to section 673(2) of the Community Service Block Grant Act; or
- meets other regulatory criteria that take into account the borrower's debt-to-income ratio as a primary factor. Specifically, teh borrower may qualify if
  - he or she is working full time and has a federal educational debt burden (including defaulted loans) that is at least 20 percent of the borrower's total monthly gross income. The borrower's income, minus the education debt burden, must be less than 220 percent of the total monthly gross amount associated with minimum wage rate work or earnings equal to 100 percent of the poverty line for a family of two.
  - he or she is not working full time and has a total monthly gross income that does not exceed two times either the minimum wage or the poverty line for a family of two and, after deducting the borrower's monthly education loan payments, the remaining amount of the borrower's income does not exceed either the minimum wage or the poverty line.
Period for which the borrower is pregnant, caring for his or her newborn child, or caring for his or her adopted child (immediately following adoption). The borrower may neither be attending school nor be gainfully employed and must have been enrolled at least half time at an eligible school at some time during the six months preceding the period of parental leave.