Should you use forbearance to get a break from student loans?

By Sasha Bulatskaya | Published on October 21, 2025

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Many folks are juggling the responsibilities of everyday life while managing student loan debt. One option that may come up in your search for relief is student loan forbearance. But what exactly is it, and how can it help or hurt your financial situation? Let’s break it down.

What is forbearance on a student loan?

Student loan forbearance is like hitting the pause button on your student loan payments. It’s a temporary break from making regular payments, giving you some breathing room when facing financial challenges. During forbearance, you’re not required to make principal payments on your loan, but interest will continue to accrue, which means your loan balance may increase.

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How does forbearance for student loans work?

If you’re struggling to make ends meet, you can request forbearance from your loan servicer. This could be due to a job loss, unexpected medical expenses, or other financial hardships.

Federal student loan forbearance vs. Private student loan forbearance

For federal student loans, you’ll need to contact your loan servicer, gather all of the necessary documents, and send the forbearance request to your loan servicer. They’ll confirm your eligibility and let you know if you’ve been approved.

Federal borrowers have the option to defer monthly payments for 12 months. After the first year is up, you’ll have to reapply with the Department of Education. You can ask for forbearance up to 3 times on federal loans, so try to save it for when you really need it.

There are also two types of forbearance for federal loans – general and mandatory. General forbearance is typically granted at the discretion of your loan servicer. It applies if you’re having trouble with student loan repayment because you lost your job, got sick, or are struggling financially for another reason.

Mandatory forbearance applies to specific situations outlined in federal regulations, such as medical residency, dental internship, Americorps, or National Guard service.

For private student loans¹, you’ll need to contact your lender since every lender has different rules and policies when it comes to forbearance. At Earnest, we offer 12-month forbearance to help customers who lost their jobs, had a big increase in living costs, or are taking unpaid maternity/paternity leave.

Pros of forbearance

Temporary relief from payments

Forbearance can provide temporary relief when facing financial difficulties. It offers flexibility if you need to pause your payments for a short period.

Lowers your default or delinquency risk

A key benefit is that entering forbearance can help avoid defaulting on your loans if you’re unable to make payments. Defaulting on your student loans can damage your credit, and taking advantage of forbearance can help you avoid that.

Cons of forbearance

Interest will keep collecting on your loan

If you go into forbearance, interest will continue to accrue on your loans. Accrued interest will likely increase your total loan balance during the forbearance period.

It might take you longer to repay the loan

Forbearance doesn’t eliminate your debt or decrease your principal balance; the payments are just postponed.

It could make it harder to improve your credit score

While forbearance doesn’t directly impact your credit score, the increased loan balance could affect your overall financial health. Keeping your debt-to-income ratio below 30% is generally seen as good practice because it shows lenders that you won’t be overwhelmed by your payments.

You won’t make progress toward forgiveness

While your federal student loans are in forbearance, you won’t be able to make any progress toward student loan forgiveness.

Consider other options, like student loan deferment

Remember, forbearance is just one tool in your financial toolkit. Since you only have a limited number of times you can use it, exploring other options for managing your student loan debt is important. If you have federal student loans such as Direct loans, FFEL, and Perkins loans, you may have the option to defer payments. Sometimes, the federal government will even cover the interest on your deferred loans.

You can also sign up for an income-driven repayment plan. If your new payments are small enough, you might not need to pause them.

Another option is refinancing your student loans with a private lender. Refinancing could help you lower your interest rates and make payments more affordable². If you refinance your loans with Earnest, you can choose from all new repayment options and rates. You can check your rate in minutes without any credit impact and find out if it makes sense for you.

Before you refinance your federal loans, remember that doing so will convert them into private loans. Once that happens, you won’t be able to access any federal protections or programs, like student loan forgiveness.

Work with your servicer before you choose forbearance

It’s always best to contact your student loan servicer for personalized information about how forbearance might impact your specific situation. They might go over other options that would be a better fit for you. Ultimately, navigating student loan forbearance requires careful consideration of your overall financial goals. Once you have all the information, you can decide if it’s the best way forward.

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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

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