Student loans have to start being paid off 6 months after you graduate. What if you continue to law school?
I’m planning on going to law school after I graduate from a 4-year college. I’m just wondering if I’ll have to start paying back my student loans after 4-year college, or after I graduate from law school?
P.S. I’m just doing some preliminary checks on student loans in general, I’m a senior in high school and I’m just thinking ahead.
j:
As long as you remain a full-time student, you will continue to qualify for “in-school deferment”. You won’t have to begin paying your loans back until you finish law school.
The only requirement is that you remain registered at least half-time at an eligible institution, and that you don’t take more than 6 months off at any time during your schooling.
By the way – this is an automatic feature of government-backed student loans (Stafford/Perkins/PLUS), but it is not necessarily characteristic of all private loans. Also remember that the in-school deferment requires attendance at an “eligible” school. Some students have pursued law or medical degrees at foreign universities, only to discover that some of these schools are not participants in the Federal Student Aid program, and therefore, ineligible for in-school deferment.
I hope that helps – good luck to you!
