Repaying Your Student Loan

Why Should You Care?

To meet the responsibility of paying back your student loan, you need to avoid two things: delinquency and default.

Delinquency

Delinquencies are late payments. A payment is late if the lender or the servicer has not received it by the day after the due date.

Why should you care?
Delinquencies can cost you extra money and can affect your credit history for years.

Your lender can charge you a late fee under the terms of your loan.
Your credit score is based on your repayment history. A low credit score could make your future consumer loans, such as a mortgage or auto loan, more expensive.
You could lose your ability to borrow money in the future.

Default

Default is falling behind on your scheduled payments over an extended period — usually 270 days or more. Being in default means that you have violated your loan agreement, and the lender or servicer can request immediate payment in full.

Why should you care?
Under certain circumstances, federal and state laws require guarantors like TG to:

Withhold a percentage of your wages until your account is paid in full.
Report your default to all national credit-reporting agencies.
Add collection charges, attorney fees, and court costs to the balance of your loan(s).
Place a hold on the renewal of your State of Texas Practitioner's License.
Seize your federal tax refund and other state or federal payments.
Prevent you from receiving additional student aid and other federal benefits.