What's a Forbearance?

A forbearance is a temporary suspension of your student loan payments due to financial hardship.

Most Common Reasons for a Forbearance:

• poor health or other unforeseen financial problems
• serving in a medical or dental internship or residency
• serving in a National Community Service position
• payments on your federal student loans are equal to or greater than 20 percent of your monthly gross income
• due to national disaster or military mobilization
• while maintaining eligibility for teacher loan forgiveness

This list is not all-inclusive. Forbearances vary based on lender and are given at the lender's discretion. Contact your loan servicer to determine if you qualify for forbearance.

During a forbearance, interest will continue to accue on your loan balances. If unpaid, the interest will be capitalized (added to your loan balance) at the end of your forbearance.

In all cases, you should try to qualify for a deferment prior to requesting a forbearance. In a deferment period, the government will pay the interest on subsidized federal student loans - saving you money!