# Stafford Loan Grace Periods??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 21, 2007, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stafford-loan-grace-periods/404939 "2007-05-21T16:22:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![adefaultusername](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b4bc9f/32.png) [@adefaultusername](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adefaultusername)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stafford-loan-grace-periods/404939/1 "2007-05-21T16:22:25Z")
I called Sallie Mae today about the following question, but I did not get a clear answer since I couldn’t understand the operators’ English. Here is what I am wondering: I have an Subsidized Stafford Loan. Once I graduate from undergrad I have a 6 month grace period. After that, I have to start paying on my student loan. If I take say a year off from school (during which time I will be making payments on the loan) and then enter grad school, will I have to keep making payments, or will entering into school again make it to where I don’t have to make the payments (even though the initial 6 month grace period has passed)? Thanks a lot! ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stafford-loan-grace-periods/404939/2 "2007-05-21T16:33:47Z")
IIRC, if you don’t want to make payments, you will have to apply for a deferment once you enter grad school. ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stafford-loan-grace-periods/404939/3 "2007-05-21T16:52:49Z")
If you go back to school full time your loans will go back into deferrment. Sallie Mae will need documentation from your school to prove that you’re a student. At my school the financial aid office took care of that automatically but I don’t know if that’s universal. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stafford-loan-grace-periods/404939/4 "2007-05-21T17:09:56Z")
The way it was explained to me (mid-1990s, the rules may have changed), you get one six-month grace period per loan. So if you take a year off between grad & undergrad, you have six months of grace and six of repayments. Say you then go to grad school and take out more loans. Upon graduation, you have a six-month grace period for the new loans, but your undergrad loans start repayment at once. That said, SallieMae is pretty good about granting forbearances and such. ---
**Author:** ![lilflower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@lilflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lilflower)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stafford-loan-grace-periods/404939/5 "2007-05-21T18:14:30Z")
You can apply for another deferment even after you’ve made payments and/or utilized your initial 6-month grace period. From the Sallie Mae website: > [@](#): > > Deferment: A period of time during repayment in which you, upon meeting certain conditions, are not required to make regular monthly payments. > > Available deferments programs are: > > ACTION Program: Covers full-time paid volunteer service with an organization participating in a program authorized under Title I of the Domestic Volunteer Act of 1973. > Economic Hardship: Covers a borrower who earns less than minimum wage or exceeds a federally defined debt-to-income ratio. Also covers borrowers who are receiving public assistance or who are serving in the Peace Corps. > Graduate Fellowship: Covers study under an eligible graduate fellowship program. > \*\*In-School (Student): Covers both full-time and half-time study at eligible schools. \*\* > Internship / Residency: Covers service in an internship program that is required to receive professional recognition needed to begin professional practice or service. Also covers service in a medical internship or residency training program that leads to a degree or certificate awarded by an institution of higher education, hospital, or a health care facility that offers postgraduate training. > Military: Covers active duty status in the U.S. Armed Forces. > National Oceanic and Atmospheric Corps: Covers active duty service in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corps. > Parental Leave: Covers a borrower who is pregnant or caring for their newborn or newly adopted child. Borrowers cannot be working full-time and must have been enrolled at least half-time in school six months prior to beginning the deferment. > Peace Corps: Covers volunteer service under the Peace Corps Act. > Primary Care Physician: Covers practicing primary care physicians that completed an internship in one of the following specialties: osteopathic general practice, family practice, general internal medicine, preventive medicine, general pediatrics. > Public Health Service: Covers service as a full-time officer in the Commissioned Corps of Public Health of the U.S. Public Health Service. > Rehabilitation Training Program: Covers a qualified individual’s participation in a rehabilitation training program. > Summer Bridge Extension: Covers summer months for students who are deferred through the end of the spring academic period and are planning to reenroll for the fall academic period. > Tax-Exempt Organization Volunteer: Covers full-time paid volunteer service with a tax-exempt organization that the U.S. Department of Education has determined to be comparable to service as a Peace Corps or ACTION volunteer. > Teacher Shortage Area (Targeted Teacher): Covers full-time teaching in a public or nonprofit private elementary or secondary school located in a teacher shortage area as defined by the U.S. Department of Education. > Temporary Total Disability: Covers a period during which a borrower is temporarily totally disabled or unable to secure employment because they are caring for a dependent or spouse who is temporarily totally disabled. > Unemployment: Covers individuals who are seeking, but unable to secure, employment in the United States. The borrower can be receiving unemployment benefits. > Working Mother: Covers mothers of pre-school age children when the mothers are entering or reentering the workforce. ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stafford-loan-grace-periods/404939/6 "2007-05-21T20:08:01Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. Drake] The way it was explained to me (mid-1990s, the rules may have changed), you get one six-month grace period per loan. So if you take a year off between grad & undergrad, you have six months of grace and six of repayments. Say you then go to grad school and take out more loans. Upon graduation, you have a six-month grace period for the new loans, but your undergrad loans start repayment at once. [/QUOTE] I think this is still true, but when I finished grad school in 2004, my loan servicer (Nelnet) automatically granted an extra deferment on my undergrad loan to bring it in line with my graduate loan, as a convenience to me. ---
**Author:** ![Jelymag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jelymag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jelymag)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stafford-loan-grace-periods/404939/7 "2007-05-21T20:59:51Z")
I was paying back my Stafford loan and taking some graduate level classes in evenings/summers. At one point I was enrolled in enough credits that Sallie Mae got notice from the school I was attending and automatically sent me a letter saying that I was getting a deferment until my enrollment droppped below the certain number of credits. So, in my case, I didn’t even have to do anything to get the deferment. As far as grace periods, my understanding has been that if you _graduate_ from whatever you’re doing, you get the six-month period. If you just take a break, repayment starts immediately. YMMV.