Paying Your Student Loans During Your Grace Period

A student loan grace period typically is a six-month-long term where a student doesn’t have to make payments on their student loan debt. This time allows new graduates to find a job, start making a paycheck, and get their feet underneath them.

While you don’t have to, can you start paying your student loans during your grace period? Should you?

Benefits of Making Payments During a Grace Period

Yes! You can start paying your student loans during your grace period. In fact, there are benefits to starting your payments early.

Getting started right away can help you pay off your loans that much faster, and can save you money in terms of reducing interest build up.

Compare rate offers from 13 lenders

Variable APR from 1.80% - 9.99% with auto-debit

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Should I Make Payments During My Grace Period?

Whether or not you should repay during your grace period depends on a few factors:

Did you get a full-time job right out of college?
Can you fit repayments into your monthly budget?
Do the terms of your loan change if you start paying early?

It’s important to consider all of your options before selecting a course of action. Be sure to get into contact with your loan lender(s) and ask them about potentially repaying during your grace period.

Rates (APR)	Eligibility
Variable APR: 1.88% - 5.64%* Fixed APR: 2.44% - 5.79%*	Undergraduate and Graduate	VISIT EARNEST
Variable APR: 1.90% - 5.25%* Fixed APR: 2.49% - 7.75%*	Undergraduate, Graduate, Parent PLUS	VISIT LENDKEY
Variable APR: 1.80% - 9.99%* Fixed APR: 2.15% - 9.99%*	Undergraduate and Graduate	VISIT CREDIBLE
Variable APR: 1.64% - 5.65%* Fixed APR: 2.25% - 5.75%*	Undergraduate and Graduate	VISIT LAUREL ROAD
Variable APR: 1.96% - 7.02%* Fixed APR: 2.59% - 6.94%*	Undergraduate, Graduate, Parent PLUS	VISIT COMMONBOND
Fixed APR: 2.44% - 5.97%*	Undergraduate, Graduate, Parent PLUS	VISIT ISL Education Lending
Variable APR: 1.87% – 5.33% Fixed APR: 2.30% – 5.96%	Undergraduate, Graduate, Parent PLUS	VISIT Nelnet
Variable APR: 2.94% - 4.84%* Fixed APR: 2.99% - 4.94%*	Undergraduate and Graduate	VISIT College Ave
Variable APR: 1.86% - 6.01%* Fixed APR: 2.47% - 5.99%*	Undergraduate and Graduate, Parent PLUS	VISIT ELFi

*APR includes a 0.25% interest rate reduction for enrollment in automatic payments.

**Interest rate reduction of .25% for automatically withdrawn payments from any designated bank account (“auto debit discount”). Auto debit discount applies when full payments (including both principal and interest) are automatically drafted from a bank account. The auto debit discount will continue to apply during periods of approved forbearance or deferment if the auto debit discount was in effect at the time of receiving the forbearance or deferment. Auto debit discount will remain on the account unless (1) the automatic deduction of payments is canceled or (2) there are three consecutive automatic deductions returned for insufficient funds at any time during the term of the loan.