Loan repayment generally begins six months after a student graduates, withdraws, or falls below half-time enrollment in a degree program. The New School Registrar's Office regularly reports students' enrollment status to a federal aid clearinghouse, which
maintains records of students' enrollment status and last day of school attendance. You may find that you have been scheduled to begin repayment of a loan as a result of this reporting. If you have taken out federal student loans and are not enrolled,
you will receive a notice from the Office of Financial Aid asking you to complete federal student loan exit counseling.
Options for repayment can be found on studentloans.gov and through your loan servicer. If you are facing hardship or other circumstances that prevent you from making payments,
you may be able to apply for a forbearance or deferment.
If you are having problems paying your loans, consolidation may be a good option. You can consolidate one loan or several loans, even if you are in default. For more information, visit studentaid.ed.gov.
Get Help with Student Loan Disputes
The Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group is an office within the U.S. Department of Education that helps students resolve disputes related to federal student loans. The Ombudsman Group can be contacted as a last resort. Identify your loan problem and contact
your loan servicer to attempt to resolve the issue first. If you do not know the name of your servicer, log into My Federal Student Aid to view information about all of your federal student
loans.
Legal Aid and Resources
If you are having difficulty paying your loans because you were a victim of fraud or your income is low, you may be able to get help from your local legal aid or legal services office. You can find information about legal aid and a national map of legal
aid offices at the Legal Services Corporation.
The National Consumer Law Center's Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project is a nonprofit organization that offers student loan borrowers information about their rights and options.
GreenPath Financial Wellness is a nonprofit that can help with credit problems involving student loans and credit cards.