Many students take out federal student loans such as Perkins loans and Stafford loans every year, because they need assistance in funding their college education. They are a huge help to a lot of people, and allow students to gain a higher education where they otherwise would not have been able to afford it. Once you leave school though, you need to pay these loans back in full and on time, in accordance with your loan agreement and repayment plan.
There is a grace period between graduation and having to start your repayments, which is six months on a Stafford loan and nine months on a Perkins loan, but this is generally expected to be long enough for you to be out of college for you to find a job and be in a position to start repaying your debt.
If you are unable to make repayments for reasons beyond your control that have left you in financial hardship, for example if you are unable to find work, have lost your job, or have been unable to work for health reasons, you may be allowed to get a deferral approved on your loan so you can have up to three years off from making repayments. If you aren't granted a deferral, you can request forbearance.
This is a form of relief where your payments can either be stopped altogether or reduced for a period of up to twelve months at a time (for an overall period of no more than three years). You need to inform your loan provider of any difficulties you are having making repayments as soon as you are aware of them so you can start the process of getting a deferral or forbearance approved, because if you don't you will default on your loan and this has very serious consequences.
If you default on any loan, including a federal student loan, your loan provider, your college, and the government can all take action against you in order to recover their money. This can involve suing you, deducting payments automatically from your pay, and withholding any tax refunds you would normally be owed. Notice of your default will also be supplied to credit referencing agencies, meaning that you will find it very difficult to get any credit products from any outlets in future, including mortgages, credit cards, and any other loans you may need. You will also be unable to get any further student funding should you ever want to go back into education.
The effects of a default can be very serious and last for years, and cause complications for you later on when perhaps your financial situation is better and you want to be able to buy a house or similar. For this reason it is vital that you stick to your legally binding repayment agreement, and notify your loan provider of any problems in good time so that action can be taken to help you.
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