Student Debt 101

No. Deferment and forbearance pause or reduce your required payments, but the loan itself remains due, and on unsubsidized and private loans, interest usually keeps accruing the whole time. Using these tools can help in a genuine hardship, but they're a pause button, not an eraser.

Options generally include the Standard Plan (fixed payments over 10 years), Graduated Plans (payments that start lower and increase), Extended Plans (a longer term for larger balances), and various income-driven plans that set your payment as a percentage of discretionary income. Which ones you can choose depends on your loan type, so it's worth checking your servicer's account tools.

No — it's a persistent myth. Federal programs exist for forgiveness or discharge in specific situations, including qualifying public service work, certain income-driven repayment plans after a set number of years, total and permanent disability, and school closure or fraud. It's true that forgiveness isn't automatic or universal, but “never” overstates the reality.

Student debt refers to money borrowed to pay for education costs — tuition, room and board, books, and other school expenses — that has to be repaid, usually with interest, after you leave school or drop below a certain enrollment level. It can come from the federal government or from private lenders such as banks, credit unions, or state-based nonprofit lenders, and the terms attached to each type can differ significantly.