Loan Request for In-School Deferment

Deferment is a period of approved, temporary postponement of interest and principal payments when the primary borrower resumes enrollment at least half-time in a Title-IV accredited or not-for-profit qualified degree 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 Sections 1 and 2, sign under Section 4, and have an authorized official from the school complete and sign Section 5.

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 Information)

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: Deferment Request

(a) I am requesting to defer my (check one): ❒ Refinanced Student Loan (Earnest Student Loan Refinance and NaviRefi Loan) ❒ Earnest Private Student Loan(s) (Also known as In-School Student Loans) (b) I am requesting that Earnest grant a deferment on my loan(s) beginning //______ (mm/dd/yyyy) and ending //______ (mm/dd/yyyy) (up to 36 months for Refinanced Student Loans, up to 48 months for Earnest Private Student Loans). NWEB008 PAGE 1 of 4

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 loans require 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 Earnest Private Student loans during the in-school and separation periods, as applicable.
• Only the primary borrower is eligible to request deferment and must be the one enrolled.
• For Earnest Private Student Loans and Refinanced Student Loans (Earnest Student Loan Refinance and NaviRefi Loan): the client must be attending a Title-IV accredited, not-for-profit school program for an undergraduate or graduate degree, and enrolled at least half-time.
• Interest will continue to accrue daily at the interest rate outlined in your Final Disclosure. Loans enrolled in Auto Pay will continue to 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.
• Falling below half-time enrollment will result in the loan immediately entering repayment of full principal and interest.
• 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.
• If your loan offers cosigner release, it will include a consecutive on-time payment requirement to qualify. Using an In-School 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 will not be allowed to adjust payment dates or the Auto Pay frequency during deferment.
• 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.
• Earnest retains the right to decline any request that does not meet the eligibility requirements for a 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 (next page), 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.

NWEB008 Page 2 of 4

____________________________________ Primary Borrower Name (print)

_____________________________________ Primary Borrower Signature

Important disclosure(s)

Sending documents via email If you choose to communicate with us via email, please understand that you assume all responsibility for the protection of personal information while in transit to us and should consider appropriate email security measures. These security measures should include the use of encryption, such as password protection. Additionally, be sure to contact us at the correct email address provided.

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 https://www.mass.gov/student-loan-assistance.

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Section 5: Enrollment Certification (To be completed by school)

Enrollment dates: ______________ to ______________ (MM/DD/YY)

Check one: ____ Enrolled full-time

____ Enrolled at least half-time

____ Enrolled less than half-time

Anticipated Graduation Date: __________________ (MM/DD/YY)

Degree Type: __________________________________________

Program: _____________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________ School Name School Code

____________________________________________________________________________________ Address City State Zip

____________________________________________________________________________________ Signature of Authorized Official Date

____________________________________________________________________________________ Name of Authorized Official (please print) Title

NWEB008 PAGE 4 of 4 (Last updated February 2026)