Yes, you can defer a Sallie Mae private student loan, but only in a few specific situations: going back to school at least half-time, completing a residency, internship, fellowship, or law clerkship, or serving on active military duty. Interest keeps building the entire time your payments are paused, so a deferment lowers your short-term cash burden while raising the total you eventually repay.
Who Qualifies for a Sallie Mae Deferment
Sallie Mae recognizes two deferment categories on its private loans, plus a separate set of protections for servicemembers.
Returning to School
If you re-enroll at an eligible school at least half-time, you can request in-school deferment on both undergraduate and graduate Sallie Mae loans for up to 48 months.1Sallie Mae. Deferring Payments for School/Internships When you leave school again, a six-month grace period usually comes before repayment restarts.2Sallie Mae. How to Make the Most of Your Student Loan Grace Period
Residency, Internship, Fellowship, or Law Clerkship
Borrowers in qualifying professional training can defer in 12-month increments. The cap depends on your loan: up to 60 months for undergraduate loans, and up to 48 months for graduate and professional-school loans, including the Sallie Mae Medical School Loan, Dental School Loan, Health Professions Graduate Loan, Law School Loan, and Graduate School Loan.1Sallie Mae. Deferring Payments for School/Internships A program official has to verify your enrollment and dates on the form.
Military Service
Sallie Mae does not offer a standalone military deferment, but active-duty servicemembers get rate relief under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. The SCRA caps interest on pre-service debts at 6%.3U.S. Department of Justice. 6% Interest Rate Cap for Servicemembers on Pre-Service Debts Sallie Mae goes further, voluntarily capping interest at 4% for eligible servicemembers no matter when the loan was opened, waiving fees on eligible accounts, and extending the benefits for one year after service ends.4Sallie Mae. SCRA Benefits for Servicemembers
Eligibility runs across all six branches on full-time active duty, reservists on active duty, National Guard members on orders longer than 30 days, and commissioned officers in the Public Health Service or NOAA. Cosigners on a loan with an eligible servicemember qualify as well.4Sallie Mae. SCRA Benefits for Servicemembers To activate SCRA protections on a private loan, you generally submit a written request with a copy of your active-duty orders.5Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Student Loan Relief Exists for Active-Duty Members of the Military
How to Request a Deferment
Download the right form from Sallie Mae’s website. There is one form for in-school deferment and a separate one for internship, residency, fellowship, or law clerkship deferment. You will need your customer identification number and basic account details, and for in-school requests, your school code and anticipated graduation date.6Sallie Mae. In-School Deferment Request Form
Part of the form is not yours to fill in. For in-school deferment, the school registrar or enrollment verification office completes and signs the certification section. For training-program deferment, a program director confirms your dates and enrollment.1Sallie Mae. Deferring Payments for School/Internships Incomplete forms get rejected or delayed.
Submit the completed form by logging into your Sallie Mae account and uploading a scan, or by mailing it to Sallie Mae, P.O. Box 3319, Wilmington, DE 19804-4319. One timing rule to watch: in-school deferments cannot be processed if your school start date is more than 30 days away.6Sallie Mae. In-School Deferment Request Form
Keep paying on schedule until Sallie Mae confirms approval. The lender does not promise a specific processing time, and stopping payments before confirmation can trigger late fees or a late mark on your credit report.1Sallie Mae. Deferring Payments for School/Internships
What Deferment Costs You
Sallie Mae private loans are not subsidized, so interest accrues every day your loan is in deferment. The daily charge equals your outstanding principal multiplied by your interest rate and divided by 365.7Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Tips for Paying Off Student Loans More Easily
When deferment ends, Sallie Mae capitalizes the unpaid interest by adding it to your principal. On loans with deferred or fixed repayment terms, capitalization can happen as often as quarterly during the deferment, not just at the end.6Sallie Mae. In-School Deferment Request Form After that, you are paying interest on the larger balance. Take a $10,000 loan at 10%: a year of deferment adds roughly $1,000 in interest, and future interest is then calculated on $11,000 instead of $10,000.
Ways to Soften the Cost
You are not required to make payments during deferment, but Sallie Mae lets you pay the accruing interest, and doing so stops capitalization from inflating your balance.6Sallie Mae. In-School Deferment Request Form Even partial interest payments can save a meaningful amount over the life of the loan.
If you are still in school, another option may fit better than a full deferment. Sallie Mae offers an interest-only in-school repayment option and a $25-style fixed in-school payment option, both of which keep your balance from ballooning.8Sallie Mae. Student Loan Guide After your grace period, a graduated repayment period limits you to interest-only payments for 12 months before full repayment starts.
What It Means for a Cosigner
Deferment does not release a cosigner. They remain fully liable through the deferment, and because capitalized interest grows the balance, their exposure grows with it. Sallie Mae does not require the cosigner’s signature or approval to grant deferment, but it is worth telling them.
Deferment also pushes back cosigner release. Sallie Mae requires 12 consecutive on-time principal-and-interest payments to qualify, and payments made during an in-school, separation, or grace period — including interest-only or fixed payments — do not count toward that total.9Sallie Mae. Apply to Release Your Student Loan Cosigner You also cannot have had any loans in a hardship forbearance or modified repayment program in the 12 months before applying for release. If getting your cosigner off the loan is a near-term goal, factor that in before deferring.
What If You Don’t Qualify
Deferment is limited to the situations above. Job loss, medical bills, and other financial hardship are not deferment grounds. For those cases, Sallie Mae may offer forbearance, which also pauses or reduces payments but under different rules. The lender does not publish detailed forbearance eligibility on its site and directs borrowers to call or chat with a representative.
Interest still accrues during forbearance, and the same capitalization rules apply. A hardship forbearance in the past 12 months also blocks cosigner release during that period.9Sallie Mae. Apply to Release Your Student Loan Cosigner Private-loan forbearance terms are negotiated case by case, so contacting Sallie Mae before you miss a payment gives you the best chance of working something out.