If you have federal student loans, you can request a forbearance from your loan servicer to temporarily pause payments on your federal student loans.
Interest will accrue while you’re in forbearance and may be capitalized when the forbearance is over. Capitalization adds that interest to the principal balance of your loan, causing your loan balance and monthly payments to go up. The interest would then be applied to that higher principal balance going forward.
If you’re having trouble making your monthly loan payments, you can enter an income-driven repayment plan rather than go into forbearance indefinitely. Depending on your income and family situation, your monthly payment could be as low as zero dollars.
After submitting an application, your loan servicer may inform you that your loans have automatically been placed in an administrative or processing forbearance for up to 60 days.