Submitted by: Gene Logan, USA Funds Services

Question: If a parent-borrower did not request deferment on a parent PLUS loan during the period when her student was enrolled, but that parent needs to defer payments briefly now, can she request just the post-enrollment deferment period?

Answer: Federal law does not require that the post-enrollment deferment be attached to a period of in-school deferment. The in-school and post-enrollment deferment provisions were implemented separately. Therefore, if the parent PLUS loan has a first disbursement date on or after July 1, 2008, the parent may request the in-school deferment based on the dependent student's status, or request only the post-enrollment deferment period, or both.