Deferment, Forbearance and Cancellation
These completed forms must be reviewed by a staff member for approval. Our office will notify you if you have been approved. Not all loan programs are eligible for these benefits.
Please provide supporting documents for the deferment period requested in order to process your request and mail forms to:
Mercer University
Attention Student Loan Office
1501 Mercer University Drive
Macon GA 31207
Institutional Loans
Hardship Deferment Request
This benefit applies to Mercer Institutional Loans only. If approved for this type of deferment, the borrower must pay interest that accrues during the deferment period
Perkins Loans
In School Deferment
As part of the In-school deferment, a borrower may defer repayment of a Perkins Loan if he or she is enrolled at least half-time in an eligible school. A deferment is a temporary postponement of payment on a loan during which interest generally does not accrue and no payments are due.
Graduate Fellowship Deferment
As part of the Graduate fellowship deferment, a borrower may defer repayment if he or she is enrolled and in attendance as a regular student in a course of study that is part of a graduate fellowship program approved by the Department, including graduate or postgraduate fellowship-supported study (such as a Fulbright grant) outside the United States.
Economic Hardship Deferment
A borrower is entitled to an economic hardship deferment for periods of up to one year at a time, not to exceed three years cumulatively, if the borrower provides the school with satisfactory documentation showing that he or she is within any of the following categories:
- has been granted an economic hardship deferment for either a Stafford or PLUS Loan for the same period of time for which the Perkins Loan deferment has been requested;
- is receiving federal or state public assistance, such as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (formerly, Aid to Families with Dependent Children), Supplemental Security Income, Food Stamps, or state general public assistance;
- is working full time and is earning a total monthly gross income that does not exceed 150 percent of the poverty line for the borrower’s family size;
- is not receiving total monthly gross income that is more than twice the amount in (3) above and that income minus an amount equal to the borrower’s monthly payments on federal postsecondary education loans does not exceed the amount specified in above;
- is working full time and has a federal educational debt burden that is 20% or more of the borrower’s total monthly gross income and the borrower’s total monthly gross income minus such burden is less than 220% of the amount specified above; or
- is serving as a volunteer in the Peace Corps
Unemployment Deferment
A borrower may defer repayment on a Perkins Loan for up to three years if the borrower is seeking and unable to find full-time employment.
General Forbearance
A period during which you are allowed to postpone making payments temporarily, allowed an extension of time for making payments, or temporarily allowed to make smaller payments than scheduled. Special extenuating circumstances exist that make you temporarily unable to pay. Interest accrues and it is recommended you pay monthly instead of one lump sum at the end of deferment period. (some restrictions apply).
Rehabilitation Training Deferment Request
Must be program licensed, approved, certified, or recognized as providing rehabilitation training to disabled individuals by the Department of Veterans Affairs or a state agency responsible for vocational rehabilitation, drug abuse treatment, mental health treatment, or alcohol abuse services.
Cancer Treatment Deferment
On loans made under the Perkins Loan Program, all deferments are followed by a post-deferment grace period of 6 months, during which time you are not required to make payments.
Postponement and Cancellation (Federal Perkins Loan only):
Due to service in:
- Teaching
- Law Enforcement
- Nursing
- Medical Technician
- Social Service Agent
- Peace Corps volunteer
- Firefighter
- Faculty at Tribal College or University
- Librarian
- Speech pathologist
- Military Service (In order to qualify for this deferment you must meet one of the following conditions)
- Military Operation: redefined in Section 101(a)(13) of title 10, U.S. code. Operation Jump Start does not qualify.
- National Emergency: this means an emergency declared by the President by reason of certain terrorist attacks.
- Serving on active duty during a war, military operation, or national emergency: this means the service of a member who is in the Reserves and ordered to active duty, or any retired member ordered for service in connection with a war or other military operation or national emergency, regardless of the location at which such service is performed. This includes active duty members who have been assigned to a location other than where the member is normally assigned.
- Qualifying National Guard duty during a war, military operation or national emergency: this means the member is on full time duty under a call to active service for a period of more than 30 consecutive days.
Postponement and Cancellation Rules as of October 7, 1998, all Perkins Loan borrowers are eligible for all cancellation benefits regardless of when the loan was made or the terms of the borrower’s promissory note. However, this benefit is not retroactive to services performed before October 7, 1998.
- View a summary chart of available deferments and cancellations for Perkins Federal loans.
Total and Permanent Disability Forms For Federal Perkins Loans Only
To qualify for this discharge, you must meet one of the following requirements:
- You are a veteran who has been determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to be unemployable due to a service connected disability, and you provide documentation from the VA of that determination OR
- You have received a Social Security Administration (SSA) notice of award for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) stating that your next scheduled disability review will be 5 to 7 years or more from the date of your last SSA disability determination, and you provide a copy of that SSA notice of award OR
- You provide a certification from a physician in Section 4 of this Discharge Application that you are unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity (see definition in Section 5) by reason of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment that can be expected to result in death; or has lasted for a continuous period of not less than 60 months; or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 60 months
Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP) Forms
NFLP Partial Cancellation and Postponement
A borrower under the Nurse Faculty Loan Program must file this form with the school of nursing which made the loan in order to claim entitlement to loan cancellation for full-time nurse faculty employment pursuant to Section 846A of the Public Health Service Act, as amended by Public Law 107-205. The form must be submitted for each complete year of full-time nurse faculty employment in a school of nursing
NFLP Deferment Form (some restrictions apply)
NFLP borrowers who are ordered to active duty as a member of Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corps, Peace Corps, or the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. A borrower who voluntarily joins a uniformed service is not eligible for deferment
NFLP borrowers that graduate and are employed, and decide to return to a graduate nursing education program to pursue a doctoral degree to further their preparation as nurse faculty
NFLP borrowers that graduate and participate in post-doctoral programs
Nurse Faculty Forbearance Form
If poor health or your present financial situation makes paying your Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP) loan a financial hardship, we may be able to grant you a forbearance of your NFLP loan. Principal payments are delayed during forbearance; however, interest will continue to accrue