When is your first payment due?

To find out exactly when your grace period ends and your first payment is due, contact your lender. If you don’t know who your lender is, visit the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), the central database of federal student loan information.

If you have not received a payment schedule from your lender, call them to request one. This will help you know when payments are due so that you don’t get behind. When you talk to your lender, make sure they have your current contact information so you can stay informed about your loans.

When does your grace period start?

If you have loans that are eligible for a grace period, any of the following situations will start your grace period.

• Graduating from school
• Withdrawing from or leaving school
• Dropping below half-time enrollment

Contact your lender to find out exactly when your grace period begins and when your first payment is due. Be sure to give your lender your current contact information so they can send you payment information.

Can I start making payments early?

One of the best ways to lower your loan balance is to make payments while you’re still in school or during your grace period. This will also help to reduce your total costs to repay your loans—the lower the balance on your loans, the less interest you will pay in the long run.

If you have subsidized Stafford loans, the federal government will pay the interest on the loans while you are in school or during your grace period. This is not the case if you have unsubsidized Stafford loans. If you have unsubsidized Stafford loans and can afford to make payments during your grace period, making payments early is a good idea.

To see how much you can save by making payments early, use our Value of making interest payments calculator.

What if you go back to school?

If you go back to school at least half-time and your grace period is over, you can request to temporarily postpone your payments with a deferment. Your lender must approve before you receive an In-School Deferment. Interest will continue to be added to your loan balance during the deferment if you have unsubsidized loans.

If you go back to school at least half-time and your grace period has NOT expired, your grace period starts over the next time you drop below half-time status, graduate or withdraw from school. For example, if you have used 5 months of your grace period and you go back to school, you will get the full 6-month grace period again the next time you leave school or drop below half-time status.

Are you at risk of missing your first payment?

If you’re concerned about making that first payment, give us a call. We can help you determine what options are available to you.