Internship, Fellowship, or Residency Deferment Request Form

Deferment is a period of approved, temporary postponement of interest and principal payments when the primary borrower is enrolled in a qualified internship, fellowship, or residency program. Although deferment lets you temporarily postpone your payments, if your loan(s) requires payments during the in-school and separation periods, you’ll be required to make payments during the deferment period as well. This is on the same terms as the repayment option that applied to your loans during the in-school and separation periods.

To be considered for deferment, you must complete this form. Requests must be received no less than five (5) business days prior to the beginning date requested by the client. Requests received less than five (5) business days before the desired start date will be reviewed and processed for the subsequent billing cycle. Payments remain due until approval is granted.

Submit completed forms online: Simply sign in to your account at earnest.com to upload your documents. Once the documents have been uploaded, please email hello@earnest.com to let us know your document is ready for review. For assistance, visit How can I provide Earnest with my documents? in our Help Center.

In order for a form to be considered complete, the primary borrower must complete Section 1 and sign under Section 4 and have an authorized official(s) complete and sign Section 2.

Clients who are greater than 60 days past due at the time of their deferment application may be subject to extended application processing times.

Section 1: Client Information (Primary Borrower Completes)

Client Name: ____________________________________________________________________

Client Phone Number: __________________________________________

Client Address: ___________________________________________________________________________

Account Number: __________________________________________________________________________________

Loan Number(s): ___________________________________________ If you want deferment applied to all your Earnest loans, please list each individual loan number.

Section 2: Internship, Fellowship, or Residency (Authorized Official completes)

For Internship, Fellowship, or Residency Deferment on private education loans, I certify the student named above has been accepted into an internship, fellowship, or residency program which: (1) requires the student to hold a bachelor’s degree as a prerequisite for acceptance into the program; and (2) is a supervised training program and either:

• leads to a degree or certificate awarded by an institution of higher education, hospital or health care facility that offers postgraduate training, or
• is required for the student to be certified for professional practice or service, in which case this criterion must be certified by an authorized official of the appropriate licensing agency.

The student’s program begins/began ____ / ____ / __________ (mm/dd/yyyy) and will end/ended

____ / ____ / __________ (mm/dd/yyyy).

Note to Official: If the internship, fellowship, or residency is required for certification for professional practice or service, provide the minimum period of participation required.

Name of Internship/Residency Program: _______________________________________________

Type of Program (medical or non-medical): _____________________________________________

Name of Authorized Official (Please print): ______________________________________________

Signature of Authorized Official: ______________________________________________________

Title (Please print): ___________________________ Name of organization: ____________________

Address (Street Address/City/State/Zip): _______________________________________________

Telephone: ________________________________________ Date: ________________________

The internship, fellowship, residency in which this student is engaged is required for the student to be certified for professional practice or service in the state of: _______________________________________

Name of Authorized Official (Please print): _____________________________________________

Signature of Authorized Official: _____________________________________________________

State Licensing Agency: __________________________________________ Date: ____________

Section 3: Disclosures

• Only refinanced Student Loans (Earnest Student Loan Refinance and NaviRefi Loan) and Earnest Private Student Loan clients are eligible based on enrollment.
• Although deferment lets you temporarily postpone your payments, if your loan(s) requires payments during school, you’ll be required to make payments during the deferment period as well. This is on the same terms as the repayment option that applied to your loans during the in-school and separation periods.
• Only the primary borrower is eligible to request deferment and must be the one enrolled.
• Interest will continue to accrue daily at the interest rate outlined in your Final Disclosure. Loans enrolled in Auto Pay will earn the 0.25% interest rate discount during the deferment period.
• Unpaid Interest on Earnest private loans, also known as In-School Student Loans, may be capitalized (added to the Unpaid Principal) at the end of each deferment, as permitted by law and your loan agreement. Interest will not be capitalized for refinanced student loans (Earnest Student Loan Refinance and NaviRefi Loans).
• Upon approval, the loan’s maturity date will be extended by the length of the deferment.
• Following the expiration of the deferment, the loan will immediately enter repayment of full principal and interest with an increased minimum Monthly Payment Amount to account for the interest accrued. Clients will not be allowed to adjust payment dates or the Auto Pay frequency during deferment.
• If your loan offers cosigner release, it will include a consecutive on-time payment requirement to qualify. Using an Internship, Fellowship, or Residency Deferment may restart the consecutive payment count on your loan and delay eligibility if you do not make full principal and interest payments during the deferment. If you would like to avoid this impact, you may contact us to withdraw or reverse your deferment request before your payment due date. Please note your loan must be current at the time the request for cosigner release is processed and not more than 15 days past due during the previous 12-month period.
• Clients have the option of making payments while fully deferred or paying more than the minimum due while in a deferment. Any payments made by a client during deferment will be applied to accrued interest first and then to the unpaid principal balance.
• Clients remain responsible for all payments due on their outstanding Earnest loan(s) until notified by Earnest that the deferment requested has been granted.
• Taking advantage of deferment will reset any consecutive payment count to zero. For the purposes of regaining eligibility for Skip-A-Payment, you will need to make additional on-time and consecutive full payments of principal and interest prior to qualifying for this option. Please see our Help Center for specific eligibility regarding Skip-A-Payment.
• For residency, fellowships, or internships, we process requests in up to 12-month increments. If your certification period is in excess of 12 months, you’ll need to reapply at that time.
• Earnest retains the right to decline any request that does not meet the eligibility requirements for deferment.

Section 4: Client Requests, Agreements, Acknowledgements, and Certifications

I request a deferment on my Earnest loan(s) for the reasons specified above. I agree that I will resume making scheduled full payments of principal and interest beginning with the first payment due immediately following the expiration of the deferment period and will make all scheduled payments thereafter in accordance with the terms of my loan agreement.

By signing below, I acknowledge that I have read, understand, and agree to the information and disclosures in this form. I certify that I meet the eligibility requirements and conditions for deferment and that the information I have provided on this form and any documentation attached hereto are true and correct. I agree to notify Earnest immediately if my present situation changes.

Primary Borrower Name (print): ____________________________________

Primary Borrower Signature: _______________________________________

Important disclosure(s)

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Your loan servicer Your loans are serviced by Earnest Operations LLC (NMLS# 1204917) with support from Higher Education Loan Authority of the State of Missouri (MOHELA) (NMLS# 1442770).

Student Loan Ombudsman – Massachusetts (for residents of Massachusetts, only) The Massachusetts Student Loan Ombudsman assists Massachusetts borrowers who have tried unsuccessfully to resolve a problem through customer service offices. You can contact the Massachusetts Student Loan Ombudsman at www.mass.gov/student-loan-assistance.