It varies depending on your particular circumstances.

Default occurs when a borrower has missed scheduled payments for 270 days or more (equivalent to 9 months). While the loan is in default, the borrower does not qualify for any benefits such as deferment, forbearance, student aid in the future and eligibility for loan forgiveness programs.

There are a number of Income Driven Repayment plans (IDR) to choose from depending on the type of loan you have and when it was disbursed.

Forbearance suspends or lower your student loan payments temporarily, usually for 12 months or less, during times of financial hardship. Unlike deferment, the borrower is responsible for any accrued interest when the forbearance period is over.

Deferment suspends the repayment of your student loans, as long as they are not in default status. Depending on the type of loan, you may not have to pay interest that accrues during the deferment period. Situations such as unemployment, financial hardship or military service can qualify you for deferring your student loans. Please note, that while your loans are in deferment this does not count towards the number of qualifying payments that need to be made to have your loans forgiven.

Student loan forgiveness or cancellation means that you are no longer required to make payments on your loans. Qualifying examples include Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and Teacher Loan Forgiveness. A student loan discharge is when you are no longer required to make payments on your student loans due to circumstances, such as a school closure, total and permanent disability, bankruptcy, borrower defense or false certification made by your school.

Yes, however it is much more difficult to have your student loans discharged in bankruptcy. In order to do so, the borrower must show that paying the loan has resulted in “undue hardship” on you and your dependents. If the borrower is successfully able to do so, then the loan will be canceled.

For subsidized federal loans, no. For unsubsidized loans, yes. However, this grace period “interest subsidy” was eliminated for Direct subsidized loans made on or after July 1, 2012 and before July 1, 2014.

If you teach full-time for five complete and consecutive academic years in a low-income elementary school, secondary school, or educational service agency, you may be eligible for forgiveness of up to $17,500 on your Direct Loan or Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program.

If you are employed by a qualifying employer, to include Federal, State, Local government organizations or 501(c)3 Non-profit organizations, you may be able to receive loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. PSLF forgives the remaining balance on your Direct Loans after you have made 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time for a qualifying employer.

Recertification is required for all Federal student loan borrowers who are on an Income Driven Repayment (IDR) plan each year. This process is to verify the borrower’s income and family size, which helps to determine how much your student loan payment will be for the following year (which can increase or decrease your payment) depending on your situation.