To get forbearance on student loans, contact your federal loan servicer and submit a request either through its online portal, by phone, or by mailing a paper form. If approved, your servicer can pause or reduce your payments for up to 12 months at a time while you work through a financial rough patch.1Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Is Student Loan Forbearance? Interest keeps accruing on every type of federal loan during the pause, so this relief has a real price. Before you apply, know which type of forbearance you qualify for, how long it can last, and whether deferment or an income-driven repayment plan would serve you better.
The Two Types: General and Mandatory
Federal forbearance comes in two forms, and the difference decides whether your servicer has any choice in the matter.
General forbearance is discretionary. Your servicer reviews your situation and decides. You can request it if you’re dealing with financial difficulty, medical expenses, a change in employment, or similar circumstances that make it hard to keep up with payments.2Federal Student Aid. General Forbearance Request The federal regulation only requires that you intend to repay and that “poor health or other acceptable reasons” currently prevent you from paying on schedule.3eCFR. 34 CFR 685.205 – Forbearance A servicer can say no.
Mandatory forbearance is different. If you meet the specific criteria set by federal regulation, your servicer must grant it. The qualifying categories are:
- You’re in a medical or dental internship or residency program you must complete before you can practice.
- Your total monthly federal student loan payments equal 20 percent or more of your gross monthly income. This category is capped at three years.
- You’re on National Guard active state duty for more than 30 consecutive days and don’t qualify for a military deferment.
- You’re performing service that qualifies for a Department of Defense student loan repayment program.
- You’re serving in AmeriCorps or a similar position and receiving a national service education award.
- You’re performing qualifying teaching service and your expected teacher loan forgiveness will cover the remaining balance.
Each category is set in federal regulation, and your servicer cannot deny you if you submit the required documentation.3eCFR. 34 CFR 685.205 – Forbearance
How to Apply
The fastest route is your servicer’s online portal. Many servicers process online requests within 24 hours, compared to the standard 10 business days for paper applications.4Federal Student Aid. FAQ – Deferment and Forbearance – CRI You can also request general forbearance by phone or mail a paper form.5Federal Student Aid. Deferment/Forbearance Fact Sheet 3
For a written application, use either the General Forbearance Request form or the Mandatory Forbearance Request form. Both are on the Federal Student Aid website and your servicer’s site. Have your Social Security number and loan account number ready.2Federal Student Aid. General Forbearance Request
The general form is short: check the box for your hardship category, sign, and submit. Mandatory forbearance takes more paperwork because you have to prove you fit one of the categories:
- For the 20-percent debt burden category, list your total monthly gross income from all sources and your total monthly student loan payments so the servicer can verify the ratio.
- For residency, National Guard duty, and similar service-based categories, provide documentation from your employer or program showing your service dates.
- For teacher loan forgiveness, you’ll need to certify annually that you’re performing qualifying teaching service.6Federal Student Aid. Teacher Loan Forgiveness Forbearance Request
If you mail the application, use a trackable method. Missing signatures and blank fields are the usual reasons for rejection, so check the form before it goes.
While You Wait for a Decision
Standard processing takes about 10 business days from the day the servicer receives your request, though online submissions often move faster.4Federal Student Aid. FAQ – Deferment and Forbearance – CRI Keep making your regular payments in the meantime. If you stop paying before the forbearance is approved and the request gets denied, those missed payments can trigger late fees and negative credit reporting.
Your servicer will send you a notice with the decision and, if approved, the exact start and end dates. Keep that approval. If you’re denied, the notice should explain why, so you can fix the error and resubmit.
How Long Forbearance Can Last
General forbearance is granted in blocks of up to 12 months. You can request it again when a block ends, but there’s a cumulative cap. For Direct Loans and FFEL Program loans, Federal Student Aid guidance puts the cumulative limit at three years.7Federal Student Aid. Student Loan Forbearance After that, you’ll need another option.
Mandatory forbearance limits depend on the category. Debt burden forbearance is capped at three years total. Teacher loan forgiveness forbearance is granted in 12-month increments and must be renewed each year of the five-year qualifying service.6Federal Student Aid. Teacher Loan Forgiveness Forbearance Request Medical residency forbearance lasts as long as the qualifying program does.
What Forbearance Actually Costs
Interest accrues on every type of federal loan during forbearance, including subsidized loans.1Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Is Student Loan Forbearance? That’s the main difference from deferment, where the government covers interest on subsidized loans.
For Direct Loans, accrued interest generally won’t be capitalized (added to your principal balance) when the forbearance ends.1Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Is Student Loan Forbearance? You still owe the interest, and it gets paid off through your regular payments once you resume. For older federal loans not owned by the Department of Education, accrued interest may be capitalized, which means you start paying interest on the interest.
On a $30,000 balance at 5 percent interest, 12 months of forbearance adds roughly $1,500 in accrued interest. You can pay interest during forbearance if you can afford it, and even partial payments reduce the long-term cost.
Check These Options First
If you qualify for deferment, it’s almost always the better choice. During deferment, the government pays the interest on Direct Subsidized Loans, so your balance doesn’t grow.8Federal Student Aid. What Is the Difference Between Loan Deferment and Loan Forbearance Common deferment categories include unemployment, economic hardship, active military service, and returning to school at least half-time. Economic hardship deferment is available if you’re working full-time but your monthly income doesn’t exceed 150 percent of the federal poverty guideline for your family size.
Also check whether an income-driven repayment plan would solve the problem without the interest cost. Under IDR, your monthly payment is recalculated based on your income and family size, and it can drop as low as $0 if your income is low enough.9Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Options for Repaying Your Federal Student Loan A $0 IDR payment gives you the same immediate relief as forbearance with two advantages: those months count toward eventual forgiveness, and subsidized loan interest may be partially covered depending on the plan.
The Department of Education’s Loan Simulator at studentaid.gov can estimate your payment under different IDR plans. Forbearance makes most sense as a short bridge when you need relief right away and don’t have time to enroll in IDR.
How Forbearance Affects PSLF
Months spent in forbearance generally do not count toward the 120 qualifying payments required for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. You’re not making payments, so there’s nothing to count. A year or more of forbearance can set your forgiveness timeline back significantly when you could have been making qualifying payments under an IDR plan instead.
There is a narrow exception. The Department of Education’s PSLF Buy Back program lets borrowers who missed payments due to deferment or forbearance after 2007 retroactively pay those months so they count toward the 120.10Federal Student Aid. Payment Count Adjustments Toward Income-Driven Repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness Programsa> If approved, you receive a buyback agreement with the total due and 90 days to pay. This can be worth it for borrowers close to the 120-payment threshold, but you have to pay the full amount you would have owed during those months.
Teacher loan forgiveness forbearance is the exception where the pause does not hurt your forgiveness path. The forbearance itself exists to bridge you through the five-year teaching service requirement.
If Your Request Is Denied
Read the denial notice first. The usual causes are incomplete forms, missing documentation, and math errors on income calculations. Fix the issue and resubmit.
For mandatory forbearance, a denial is harder for the servicer to justify, because the regulation requires approval when you meet the criteria. If you believe you qualify and your servicer disagrees, escalate. The Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group handles disputes borrowers can’t resolve through normal servicer channels. Before you contact them, make sure you’ve tried to work it out with the servicer directly, and gather your supporting documents.11FSA Partner Connect. Office of the Ombudsman FSA You can file at studentaid.gov, by mail, or by calling 800-433-3243.
Private Student Loans Follow Different Rules
Everything above applies to federal loans. Private loan forbearance is a separate matter. Private lenders set their own rules, and your options depend on your loan contract and the lender’s policies. No federal regulation requires private lenders to grant forbearance, and the terms are often less generous than what federal borrowers receive.12Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Is Forbearance or Deferment Available for Private Student Loans? If you have private loans, call your servicer directly to ask what relief is available, and do it before you miss a payment rather than after.