NFLP Deferments

Deferment options under the NFLP are very limited. NFLP deferments are allowed for borrowers who are ordered to active duty as a member of a uniformed service of the United States (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corps, or the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps) and borrowers are eligible for deferment for up to three years.  A borrower who voluntarily joins a uniformed service is not eligible for deferment, nor is a borrower who is employed by one of the uniformed services in a civilian capacity.

NFLP borrowers who graduate and are employed as full time nurse faculty and decide to return to a graduate nursing education program to pursue a doctoral degree to further their preparation as nurse faculty are not eligible for deferment. The loan will be put into repayment and interest will accrue at the prevailing market rate from that point forward. The loan also is not eligible for postponement or cancellation benefits for the remaining life of the loan.

Deferments are not automatic. The University will not put a borrower into a deferment status unless the borrower submits a deferment form for each period of deferment at least 30 days before the beginning of:

• the activity that makes the borrower eligible for deferment; or
• the repayment period (i.e., the due date of the first payment) if the borrower is beginning the activity during the grace period.

During periods of deferment, interest on the loan continues to accrue at the current market rate but repayment is not required until the deferment ends.

Deferment periods are excluded from the 10-year repayment period. For example, a borrower who has used three years of deferments still has a total of 10 years, not seven years, to repay the NFLP loan.