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Deferment Eligibility Requirements
and Time Limits
Temporary Total Disability Deferment Request (Download
Form)
Applicable to outstanding FFELP
loans made before July 1, 1993.
Eligibility Criteria:
- You are unable to work or attend school for at least
60 days in order to recover from an injury or illness,
or
- You are unable to work or attend school because you
are caring for a dependent or spouse who is temporarily
totally disabled and requires at least 90 days of continuous
nursing or similar care from you, or
- You are pregnant with complications, and
- You provide a physician’s certification for the condition
every six months.
Time Limits:
- This deferment may be obtained for a maximum time limit
of three years.
Note:
- If you think the disability will continue indefinitely,
you may qualify to have your loan discharged. Please contact
us for information if you believe you are eligible to
have your loan discharged.
In-School Deferment Request (Download
Form)
Applicable to any outstanding FFELP
loans.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Full Time Student (all borrowers), or
- Half Time Student (outstanding Loans made on or after
July 1, 1987), and
- School certifies your enrollment as a Full Time or Half
Time student.
Time Limits:
- There is no time limit for this deferment.
Unemployment Deferment Request (Download
Form)
Applicable to any outstanding FFELP
loans.
Eligibility Criteria:
- You are not working but conscientiously seeking full
time employment in the U.S. in any field at any salary,
and
- You provide documentation of your search for Full Time
employment, and
- You are registered with an employment agency if there
is one within 50 miles of your permanent or temporary
address, and
- You re-apply every six months.
Time Limits:
- Two years if your loans were made before July 1, 1993,
or
- Three years if your loans were made on or after July
1, 1993.
Education Related Deferment Request - Fellowship
(Download
Form)
"Graduate Fellowship and Rehabilitation Training"
Applicable to any outstanding FFELP
loans.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Enrolled Full Time in a Graduate Fellowship program,
or
- Enrolled Full Time in a Rehabilitation Training program.
Time Limits:
- There is no time limit for this deferment.
Education Related Deferment Request - internship
(Download
Form)
"Internship/Residency Training and Teacher Shortage
Area"
Applicable to outstanding FFELP
loans made before July 1, 1993 or Federal PLUS loans made
before August 15, 1983.
Eligibility Criteria:
- You are enrolled in an Internship/Residency program
(serving in a medical internship or residency training
program that leads to a degree or certificate awarded
by an institution of higher education, hospital, or health
care facility that offers postgraduate training), or
- You are a Teacher in a Shortage Area.
Time Limits:
- You may obtain the Internship/Residency deferment for
a maximum of two years, or
- You may obtain the Teacher in a Shortage Area deferment
for a maximum of three years.
Economic Hardship Deferment Request (Download
Form)
Applicable to any outstanding FFELP
loans made on or after July 1, 1993.
Eligibility Criteria:
- You are working at least 30 hours per week and earning
no more than minimum wage, or
- You are working Full Time and owe 20% or more of your
gross income for FFELP loans, or
- You are working less than 30 hours per week and earning
no more than either twice the minimum wage or the poverty
line amount for a family of two, whichever is greater.
In addition, when you subtract your federal education
loan payments, your remaining gross monthly income must
fall below the minimum wage or poverty line, or
- You are receiving public assistance payments (examples:
Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Supplemental
Security Income, Food Stamps, or state general public
assistance), or
- You are serving as a Peace Corps volunteer, or
- You have been granted an Economic Hardship Deferment
under the Federal Direct or Federal Perkins Loan programs,
- And you provide the required documentation and
re-apply every 12 months.
Time Limits:
- You may obtain this deferment for a maximum of three
years.
Parental Leave Deferment Request (Download
Form)
Applicable to outstanding FFELP
loan made before July 1, 1993.
Eligibility Criteria:
- You are pregnant and cannot work or attend school, or
- You are caring for your newborn or newly adopted child
and cannot work or attend school, and
- You attended school at least half-time during the 6
months immediately preceding this deferment.
- You must get certification from your school of your
enrollment status during the 6 months preceding this deferment,
and
- Provide a statement from your physician documenting
your pregnancy, or
- A copy of your child's birth certificate, or
- Provide a statement from the adoption agency documenting
your newly adopted child's placement.
Time Limits:
- This deferment can be obtained for
a maximum time limit of 6 months for each occurrence with
no limit on the number of occurrences.
Public Service Deferment Request (Download
Form)
Applicable to outstanding FFELP
Loan made before July 1, 1993; PLUS Loans made on or after
August 15, 1983 do not qualify for Armed Forces, Public
Health Service, Peace Corps and Volunteer Action Program.
Eligibility Criteria:
- You are serving on active duty as a member of the U.S.
Armed Forces , Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or Coast
Guard, or
- You are Full Time officer in the Public Health Service,
or
- You are serving in the Peace Corps, or
- You are a Full Time Volunteer for a Tax-Exempt Organization
or Action Program, or
- You are serving on active duty in the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (only available
for borrowers with outstanding first loans made on or
after July 1, 1987 and before July 1, 1993), and
- You provide the required documentation.
Time Limits:
- This deferment may be obtained for a maximum time limit
of three years. The three years include any combination
of service in the U.S. Armed Forces, U.S. Commissioned
Corps of Public Health, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Corps.
Military Deferment Request (Download Form)
Borrower’s eligible loans may be deferred for a period during which the borrower is serving on active duty.*
Eligibility Criteria:
- This deferment is available to borrowers serving on active duty during a war, other military operation, or national emergency.
This deferment is also available on eligible loans for borrowers performing qualifying National Guard duty during war, other military operation, or national emergency.
- Only loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2001, are eligible for this deferment.
In some instances, a borrower may be eligible for deferment on some loans but not on older loans (i.e., loans first disbursed before July 1, 2001).
A Consolidation loan may be deferred only if all of the Title IV loans (i.e., FFELP, Direct, Perkins, and FISL) included in the consolidation were first disbursed on or after July 1, 2001.
- Documentation establishing a borrower’s eligibility for this deferment may include:
a. A copy of the borrower’s military orders.
b. A written statement from the borrower’s commanding officer or personnel officer indicating the borrower is serving on active duty or performing qualifying National Guard duty.
*Definitions:
- Active duty – full-time duty in the active military service of the United States. However, this term does not include full-time training duty, annual training duty, or attendance at a school designated as a service school.
- Serving on active duty – a person who is any one of the following:
i. An Armed Forces Reserve member ordered to active duty under applicable law for service in connection with a war, other military operation, or national emergency, regardless of the location at which the active duty service is performed.
ii. An Armed Forces retired member ordered to active duty under applicable law for service in connection with a war, other military operation, or national emergency, regardless of the location at which the active duty service is performed.
iii. Any other Armed Forces member on active duty in connection with the emergency or subsequent actions or conditions who has been assigned to a duty station at a location other than the location at which he or she is normally assigned.
iv. Military operation – a contingency operation in which members of the U.S. Armed Forces are or may become involved in military actions, operations, or hostilities against an enemy of the United States or against an opposing military force. This term also means an operation which results in the call or order to, or retention on, active duty of members of the uniformed services under applicable law or any other provision of law during a war or national emergency declared by the President or Congress.
v. National emergency – the national emergency declared by the President on September 14, 2001, due to the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania as well as any subsequent emergency declared by the President as a result of a terrorist attack.
vi. Qualifying National Guard Duty – service as a National Guard member on full-time duty under a call to active service authorized by the President or the Secretary of Defense for a period of more than 30 consecutive days in connection with a war, other military operation, or a national emergency declared by the President and supported by federal funds.
Certification:
- Documentation establishing a borrower’s eligibility for this deferment may include:
a. A copy of the borrower’s military orders.
b. A written statement from the borrower’s commanding officer or personnel officer indicating the borrower is serving on active duty or performing qualifying National Guard duty.
Time Limits:
- The deferment cannot exceed a total of (3) three years.
Payments already made by a borrower at the time the deferment is
granted are not refundable.
PLUS Borrower with Dependent Student Deferment Request
(Download
Form)
Applicable to parent borrower with outstanding
FFELP loans made
before July 1, 1993.
Eligibility Criteria:
- The student for whom the loan was borrowed is enrolled:
- Full Time in an eligible school, or
- At least Half Time in an eligible school and have
outstanding FFELP loans made on or after July 1, 1987,
or
- Full Time in a certified Rehabilitation Training Program,
and
- You provide documentation for the enrollment.
Time Limits:
- There is no time limit for this deferment.
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