What happens if I miss payments on my student loan?
If you get behind on your scheduled monthly payments, your loan becomes delinquent. To be eligible for most repayment supports, you will need to bring your payments up to date.
If you continue to miss payments for 9 months, your loan goes into default.
Defaulting on your loan can disqualify you from:
- receiving future student aid
- applying for repayment assistance under the Repayment Assistance Plan
- benefiting from other debt management programs
If you don’t repay your student loan you could be subject to the following:
- being contacted by a collection agency
- receiving a bad credit rating and inability to get credit, which can lead to being denied a mortgage or contract for a cell phone plan
- loss of future income tax refunds and tax rebates
- garnishment of your wages
- liens against your property
All repayment activities are reported to the credit bureau. Missing payments affects your credit rating.