As of mid-2025, approximately 10.3 million federal student loan borrowers are in a forbearance status, with over 7 million of those placed in forbearance due to litigation surrounding the SAVE plan. This marks a significant increase from previous years, with total forbearance-related debt rising from $133 billion before the pandemic to $582 billion by June 2025.
65.8% of all debt from federal student loans remained in forbearance until September 2023. 26.7 million or 61.2% of borrowers had loans in forbearance. 300,000 or 0.69% of federal student loan borrowers had loans in repayment. 6.91% of the student loan debt balance belonged to students who are still in school.
For federal student loans, the maximum forbearance period for general forbearance is 12 months at a time, with a total cap of 3 years over the life of the loan. Some forbearance plans, like those under the SAVE Plan, have no set limit but don't count toward forgiveness progress.
With forbearance, you won't have to make a payment, or you can temporarily make a smaller payment. However, you probably won't be making any progress toward forgiveness or paying back your loan. As an alternative, consider income-driven repayment. You have a limited amount of forbearance available.
Interest began accruing under this forbearance on Aug. 1, 2025. This forbearance will last until the legal situation changes or servicers are able to send bills to borrowers at the appropriate monthly amount.
Your lender may grant forbearance of principal, interest, or both. If forbearance is granted on interest, the interest that accrues during the forbearance will usually be capitalized and added to the loan. Your lender can grant forbearance for up to 1 year if you agree to this in writing.
This process of paying off your loan over time is called amortization. Using the formula above, for a $50,000 student loan with a 10-year repayment at 5% interest, you can expect to make monthly payments of around $530 per month.
In some cases, like sudden unemployment or medical emergencies, forbearance on student loans may be a smart, short-term strategy to stay in good standing. It helps you avoid delinquency, which can harm your credit and lead to long-term financial damage. However, it's not ideal as a long-term solution.
You were either enrolled in the SAVE Plan or about to have your payments lowered under it. A federal court recently blocked the implementation of the SAVE Plan. To comply with the court order and prevent incorrect billing, the Education Department directed MOHELA to place affected borrowers into forbearance.
If you're one of these borrowers, it's likely due to the legal battles over the SAVE program. Some borrowers report that their forbearance will last until 2040. This year may be a placeholder or will change once the legal battles over the SAVE Plan end.
Only after you pay your federal student loans can the default be removed, but it will still take seven years from the time of repayment for those accounts to be removed. Keep in mind: Federal law limits how long most types of negative information can remain on your credit report.
Both deferment and forbearance allow you to temporarily postpone or reduce your federal student loan payments. The difference has to do with interest accrual (accumulation). During a deferment, interest doesn't accrue on some types of Direct Loans. During a forbearance, interest accrues on all types of Direct Loans.
Under certain conditions, you can receive a deferment or forbearance on your federal loans, as long as the loan is not in default. You must contact the lender or agency that holds your loan to request a deferment or forbearance. Details can be found on the Federal Student Aid website.
8 million people have a student loan debt balance of $40,000-$100,000. 3.6 million people have a student loan debt balance of over $100,000.
Student loan forbearance allows you to pause monthly payments on your federal student loans for no more than 12 months. If you are still experiencing financial hardship, you can reapply for forbearance after that time. There's no maximum on the number of times you can apply for forbearance.
Federal Reserve data shows that about 23% of Americans have no debt.
On August 1, 2025, interest began accruing on the SAVE Administrative Forbearance. Visit StudentAid.gov/SAVE to learn more. You can leave the forbearance by switching to an eligible repayment plan using Loan Simulator.
You can leave the SAVE administrative forbearance by switching to an eligible repayment plan. Visit Loan Simulator this link will open in a new window and apply today! Please Note: Once your request is approved, the forbearance will be ended to allow time for billing to start on your new plan.
Student loan forbearance is a temporary postponement or reduction of your student loan payments because you are experiencing financial difficulty.
This new option allows forbearance to count toward PSLF if you're willing to pay for it. You'll pay what your income-driven repayment plan payment would have been if you weren't placed in forbearance. In turn, you'll receive PSLF or IDR forgiveness credit for being “in repayment” status during qualifying months.
Cons of Forbearance
The major con is that you still accrue interest while in forbearance. This means that your total amount owed will increase. Depending on your loan provider, you may even have to pay an up-front fee to apply for forbearance.
Federal student loans may come off your credit report either seven and a half years after the default or seven years after the loan was transferred to the Department of Education. In both cases, the strikes on your credit report will disappear only if you start to make payments.
Right now, the average student loan debt in the U.S. is nearly $40,000 but many students borrow much more. Depending on your field of study and career prospects, borrowing upwards of $100,000 to fund your higher education could either be a smart investment or a big mistake.
6. The 15- and 20- year term and Flat Payment Repayment option (paying $25 per month during in-school deferment) are only available for loan amounts of $5,000 or more. Making interest only or flat interest payments during deferment will not reduce the principal balance of the loan.
Credit score: In general, you will need to have good to excellent credit, a FICO score of 680 or higher, to qualify. An excellent credit score paired with a high income will likely give you the fastest path to approval. Income: Lenders may set specific income requirements for you to qualify.