Hello. My loans are currently in deferment (in school status-all federal). I will finish the spring semester in mid-May. I will be enrolled in courses for the fall (at least half-time status) and am not set to finish my doctoral degree until Spring 2027.
I don't normally take summer classes but in 2024 I fell below half-time status because I had to withdraw due to a health issue. I was placed in grace period status for about four months and re-enrolled for the fall before the full time elapsed.
I guess I'm just confused because prior to that, I've taken summer classes 1-2 times for different degrees/different colleges but the half-time status requirement was met during Fall/Spring.
Have I not used my entire grace period? I was previously told it would reset as long as enrolled at least half time before the six months ends, but am now understanding it's just six months in entirety for each loan.
I mean for my UG (done residentially) I took summer courses one time and never had issues. In between when I graduated and started my GR degree was just a summer (three months) but I remember being in grace period during that time. I finished that degree and started another one three months later and same thing happened.
I called Nelnet earlier and spoke to a very nice old lady, but she didn't seem too confident in her answers. She said I could apply for forbearance or an income based repayment for the summer, but that the last option wouldn't be helpful since it likely wouldn't be processed before returning to school in the fall.
My question is what will happen? Will my loans enter automatic repayment, for June on the standard plan? I'm kind of burnt out and before I get to the heavier part of my doctoral degree I wanted to take a summer off, but not if it's going to cause issues.
Question about taking the summer off.
byu/hUntingbOssbabez inStudentLoans
Posted by hUntingbOssbabez
2 Comments
Each modern federal student loan gets one six month grace period or grace period analog. The time starts from when your school reports your status as no longer enrolled at least halftime in school to a centralized database. If you return to at least half time enrollment before the six month grace period is up… then you didn’t use up your six month grace period and your grace period resets. In practice there can be a month or two (or more) delay between leaving half time enrollment and your school reporting this change in status.
So a 3 month summer term isn’t a problem if sandwiched between at least half time enrollment in the spring and fall.
A spring + summer or a summer + fall hiatus from at least half time enrollment could be 7 months, depending on when your school reports your status change and your school’s academic calendar.