REPAYING LOANS

You can defer your loan payments while you are in school and during your residency if you want.

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by sue:
<strong>No , I am a spouse of a resident.....I am attending university.......can I repay my loans after I finish university and find a job?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">They give you a grace period after you graduate before you start repaying them. Ususally 6 months or so. You can defer though, for several reasons, such as economic hardship, illness, etc.

 

Sue, if their federal stafford/direct loans, you have a 6 month grace period AFTER you GRADUATE from school before you have to start paying them back. People going into residencies are able to defer because of hardship or other reasons.

So, no you do not have to pay back your loans while you're still working toward your degree, but after you graduate. If you graduate and decide to pursue an advanced degree, then you don't have to pay back your loans until after you finish that advanced degree. For private loans, you'll have to check on their conditions though, this info is only valid for the federal loans or stafford loans.

 

As far as cosigning goes, it is my understanding that a cosigner is not absolutely required. You can still get the loan but pay a 3 or 4% fee at repayment.

 

Sz, only private (alternative) loans require a co-signer or charge an additional fee.

Sue, for Stafford loans, you need no cosigner, and will not be charged any additional fee for not having one. If you need alternative loans, then you might need a co-signer.

 

Perhaps I'm not the only one with questions about this. So you CAN hold off on repaying loans during residency? I would assume that if you do this the interest would still accrue during this time though, yes?

 

There are two things you can do during residency IF YOU QUALIFY. One is hardship deferment...maximum 3 years. The other is forebearance...even more stringent eligibility requirements but lasts longer.

The eligiblity requirements take into accont your income, monthly loan payment, and the poverty level in the area in which you live to see if you qualify for being too poor. During deferment, subsidized Stafford loans will still be subsidized, others will not. During forebearance there is no subsidizing. These rules are for Federal Loans only. Private loans may have different terms for deferrment or forebearance.