How to Request Student Loan Deferment

Student loan deferment is an option that's available if you're worried about becoming delinquent or defaulting on private or federal student loans. Economic hardship is one of the qualifying reasons. Deferment means that you won't have to make payments on your student loan for a certain number of months, depending on the reason for deferment. During that time, if your loan is a government-subsidized loan, no interest will accrue. If it's not subsidized, interest will continue to accrue and will be added to the principal due, once the student loan deferment period ends. Economic hardship isn't the only reason you may qualify for student loan deferment. There are many reasons, which vary slightly depending on when you originally received your student loan, but they include such things as: unemployment, temporary disability or in rehabilitation training, taking part in a medical or non-medical required internship or residency program, on active duty with the military, on parental leave for pregnancy or childcare, teaching in a public or nonprofit primary or secondary school or working full-time for the Peace Corps or a tax-exempt nonprofit organization.

Instructions

1

Get a record of the student loan that you want to apply for deferment on. You'll need to apply for a deferment for each one individually and the procedure may vary slightly. If you need to see a record of all your Title IV loans, you can access the National Student Loan Data Systems website.

2

Contact the appropriate person to request student loan deferment. For FFEL, Stafford or PLUS loans, contact the lender who made the loan. For Perkins loans, contact the school that originally issued the loan. For direct loans, see the list of deferment forms in the "References" link called "Federal Student Aid Forms" and scroll down to "Managing Your Student Loans." When you make contact, ask for the specific requirements that you believe may qualify you for student loan deferment, and request the forms to apply for deferment.

3

If you believe you qualify, fill out the forms along with proof of your situation and send them in for each loan you want to defer. While you're waiting for approval, you must continue to make payments on your loans or you'll be considered delinquent. If you request deferment of non-subsidized loans, you may want to continue paying interest during the deferment period if possible, to prevent the balance of the loan increasing, since interest will continue to accrue.