Mandatory Forbearance for Internship/Residency

If you are a medical or dental intern or resident and either do not qualify for a deferment or have used all your deferment eligibility, you may qualify for a mandatory forbearance based on your internship or residency.

In a forbearance, payments on your student loan account are postponed.  A mandatory forbearance is one that your lender or servicer is required to grant if you provide them you’re your request and evidence of your eligibility in a timely fashion. 

You are not required to postpone payments if you don’t want to.  With a forbearance, you remain responsible for the interest accruing on your loans.  You may continue to make monthly payments to cover interest, or you may allow the interest that has accrued during the forbearance to be capitalized, or added to the principal balance of your loan(s).  This means that you will pay interest on a higher balance when you resume payments, probably causing your monthly payment amount to go up.