Will consolidating student loans provide additonal deferment time?

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I received an email stating that my deferment has been processed.  I am deferred until 9/2016 but I am pretty sure I won't close until October.  Can someone tell me if consolidating my student loans will provide this extra time I need?   Just in case it matters, I am still in Grad school and won't finish until late 2016/2017.

Thanks!

[SCF]

If you're in school, your loans can be on an in-school deferment that should last until your enrollment status changes.  They may put a prospective end-date on the deferment, but before it expires, your lender will check your student status and update it if needed.

Loans are generally put into an administrative forbearance when you consolidate them, so not that no payments are due before the new servicer has the consolidated loan and the borrower has been informed of the new payment amount.  But I wouldn't consolidate a loan just because you need some additional time in deferment.  You can request a hardship deferment, or a reduced payment, from your lender at any time, and they can walk you through what your different options are.

[Anonymous]

Hmm.  I recently applied for a mortgage.  I am in grad school and my loans were just recently deferred to September 2016.  That is a year from now.  I know that my school loans will need to be deferred 12 months out from the time I close on the home.  Are you saying that I can just call my student loan servicer and ask them to add on another deferment? 

Thanks!

[Wovenyarn]

My school provides the date of graduation to the national clearinghouse and the clearinghouse notifies Fed Loan. I had to get mines updated for my mortgage loan.

[SCF]

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@Wovenyarn wrote:
My school provides the date of graduation to the national clearinghouse and the clearinghouse notifies Fed Loan. I had to get mines updated for my mortgage loan.

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This is the answer - if your loans are on an in-school deferment, the end date will be based on your projected date of graduation.  Most schools start with a guess based on the standard time to complete your program, but if the current date isn't accurate for you, you can request the school to update it with the clearinghouse.