Your guide to pausing student loan payments

By Sasha Bulatskaya | Published on October 21, 2025

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This blog contains links to external pages and resources not managed by Earnest

If you need to put your student loan payments on hold, you’ve got a few options to consider. The most common ways to pause your payments are student loan forbearance and student loan deferment, but there are other ways to make your payments more affordable.

Let’s talk about what you can do if you can’t pay and how to pause your student loan payments without hurting your credit.

What’s student loan forbearance?

Student loan forbearance is when your lender gives you a break in payments for a set amount of time. Forbearance is usually capped at 12 months and there’s a limit to how many times you can request it. Federal student loan forbearance stops at 12 months, while private student loan forbearance will depend on your lender.

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Federal student loan forbearance

There are two types of forbearance available to federal borrowers. There’s general forbearance if you get sick, lose your job, have financial troubles, or have other reasons for needing a break. The second type is mandatory forbearance, which is usually reserved for federal programs, such as AmeriCorps, the National Guard, Medical Residency, and others.

What are the downsides of federal forbearance?

• Interest will continue to accrue, making your loan more expensive in the long run
• You’ll delay any forgiveness, including Public Service Loan Forgiveness

PSLF and income-driven repayment forgiveness

It’s a great tool if you don’t have any other options, but it’s got a few limitations. The government will only give you 12 months of forbearance. After that, you have to reapply, and you’re capped at 3 years of forbearance total.

Private student loan forbearance

If you’re interested in forbearance for private student loans, the terms will depend on your lender. Most offer a forbearance program, but they don’t follow the same rules as federal lenders. We recommend checking with your lender about their forbearance program.

At Earnest, we offer up to 12-months of forbearance to help customers who have fallen on hard times. Some reasons our clients could qualify include:

• A drop in income
• Job loss
• A large increase in essential costs (medical expenses, emergency home repairs, or child care)
• Unpaid maternity/paternity leave

Like federal forbearance, our forbearance program should be used as a last resort because it could increase your loan and monthly payment. Your interest will continue to accrue and will be added to your loan once your forbearance expires. That’s why we allow you to make payments or cancel your forbearance at any time and return to regular monthly payments.

What’s student loan deferment?

Student loan deferment is another way to put payments on hold. Although it sounds similar to forbearance, it has some key differences.

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Federal student loan deferment

Federal deferment is often tied to specific circumstances like returning to school or economic hardship. Those who took out Direct, Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL), and Perkins loans can use this program. During deferment, you're not responsible for payments, and in some cases, the government will cover the interest on subsidized loans.

To see if the interest on your loans will be covered, take a look at the chart below.

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If your interest isn't covered, you’ll have two choices. Either pay the interest as it accrues or wait until your deferral expires. If you choose to wait, your loan will likely increase and could take longer to pay off.

One downside of deferment is that while you’re on it, you won’t be able to progress toward any forgiveness plans, including income-driven repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness. You can apply for deferment on studentaid.gov and check their list of valid reasons for deferment.

Private student loan deferment

For private student loans, deferment differs from company to company. You’ll want to visit your lender’s website or call their customer service to find out their policy. You can find a full breakdown of our deferral program on our repayment overview page.

With an Earnest loan, your deferment will depend on your repayment plan. Under some plans, your payment can be fully deferred through a grace period. Other repayment plans include a minimum payment of $25 or an interest-only payment plan. The best way to find out is to contact our Client Happiness team and they’ll go over your options.

Some downsides of private deferment might be:

• Interest will continue to accrue and will be added to your loan
• The accruing interest can increase your monthly payment and the total cost of your loan
• A larger loan and payment could make it harder to pay off the loan

What are my other options?

There’s a way you could skip payments or pay much less without tapping into emergency programs.

Federal student loan relief

For federal student loans, an income-driven repayment plan might give you the same result as deferment or forbearance. You can sign up for an income-driven repayment directly on studentaid.gov.

Private student loan relief

The first thing you should do is contact your lender. Tell them you need to pause your payments and for how long. They might offer you a new payment plan or other options.

At Earnest, every loan comes with a Skip-A-Payment feature in case one of our clients needs a break. It allows all of our customers to skip one payment a year. To qualify, clients must make at least 6 consecutive monthly payments on time and in full. It’s a short-term solution but it can give you temporary relief.

Exploring payment relief

Forbearance and deferment can help you avoid falling behind on payments, but they’re not a magic solution. Before you apply, look into other options, such as income-driven repayment plans. If it’s truly an emergency, these programs can give you a much-needed break and allow you to get back on track with payments.

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About the Author

Sasha Bulatskaya

Sasha is the Senior Manager of Brand and Content at Earnest. She has been writing for ten years and has been focused on educational finance and financial aid for over three. Her passion for mission-driven companies brought her to Earnest in 2020, and she's been helping make student finance more accessible ever since. She strives to demystify personal finance and student loans to help borrowers make the best decisions for their financial situation.

Disclaimer

Disclaimer: This blog post provides personal finance educational information, and it is not intended to provide legal, financial, or tax advice.