Once you graduate, are enrolled less than half-time, or no longer enrolled, you normally have a period of time before you start making your monthly payments to begin repaying your federal loans.* This “period of time” is called the “Grace Period”. The Grace Period is 6 months for students who borrowed federal student loans from the Direct or FFEL loan programs (also known as Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans). The Grace Period begins the day the student is no longer enrolled at least half-time (half-time for undergraduate students is defined as 6 credits per term).
With the Grace Period being 6 months, students graduating at the end of the Spring term can expect their first payment to be due in November, if the student was enrolled at least half-time through the end of Spring term. Students graduating at the end of the Fall term can expect their first payment to be due in June as long as the student was enrolled at least half-time through the end of the Fall term.
*Note: Students who consolidate their loans will go into repayment immediately, losing their Grace Period. The first payment to begin repaying the loans will be due immediately after the loans have been consolidated.