Do I have to pay off my undergraduate loans during medical school?

[orange_peel]

I have a lot of loans from undergraduate, and I'm starting medschool fall 2015. Question is, it says that I have to start paying my undergrad loans December of 2015. But do I really have to while I'm in school? (This loan has been already deferred once) Or can I pay it off during residency (when I'm out of school)?

Also, do medschool loans cover living and housing expenses or just tuition if you barely have EFC?

Thanks in advance.

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[butternutsquash]

If you go back to school full-time, then your loans will freeze. You'll begin repayment once again when you graduate from med school.

 

[malamia]

I'm pretty sure you don't have to pay anything until you're done.. and yes med school loans can cover living expenses!

 

[lisi326]

undergrad loans can be deferred during med school.
-stafford/gvmt loans can be deferred (I think) forever while you're still full time.
-private/bank loans for undergrad can be deferred for 10 yrs of full time schooling.

-stafford loans cannot be deferred during residency.
-private loans can be deferred for (in general) the first 4 years of residency.

 

[Tappinfool66]

Deferred meaning that you simply don't have to make payments but that interest still acrues, right? I'm assuming that if we have loans that did not acrue interest during undergrad, they don't go back into that 'grace period,' correct?

 

[235009]

If you go back to school full-time, then your loans will freeze.

Don't assume that this will happen automatically/magically. Be proactive in letting your loan servicer know that you're back to being a full time student before your grace period is up.

Unsubsidized loans continue to accrue interest while you're in school, subsidized loans do not.

 

[allantois]

What I really want to know is when the cost of medical education will stop rising

 

[RangerBob]

Some of the above posts aren't accurate--it depends on the loan. I had one private loan from my post-bac that I had to start paying because it didn't have an in-school deferment once I completed the degree it was loaned for. I tried talking with them and with my financial aid office, but unfortunately with private loans they dictate the terms. So I paid the $80/month or so. My other private loan I was able to defer through graduation.

Read your MPN--that will tell you the details. And if you do have to start repayment, just call your lender--sometimes they'll surprise you and work with you and allow you to defer (if they know you're in medical school, then they know you're almost certainly going to pay that loan in full, so it also helps them make more money the more you defer your loans). Obviously that one lender of mine wasn't very flexible, but my other loan was from Wells Fargo and they let me defer the loan even when I was a "non-degree" student (ie., my glide year when I had finished and obtained my post-bac, but was invited to TA and took one course/semester for fun. Even federal loans would've gone into repayment at that time. So you never know.

As for Federal loans, yes, they qualify for an in-school deferment. I think you could in theory defer those through old age if you were still a student...

 

[mvenus929]

Look at your MPns and talk to your med schools financial aid office. That is part of their job, to help you manage loans.

And how much you are eligible to borrow and whether it covers living expenses will depend on your particular Loan package. But generally, yes, you will have enoug loans to cover both tuition and living expenses, if you do not live lavishly.