Making payments on your New Jersey CLASS student loan can be tough enough, but what if you are temporarily disabled due to something like an auto accident or a work-related accident? What if , as a result, you can't work for a while?
Luckily, you can get a deferment if you are unable to work and earn money or attend school during a period needed to recover from injury or illness. To qualify, you must submit a request and provide HESAA with a statement from a physician, who is a doctor of medicine or osteopathy, and is legally authorized to practice, certifying that you are temporarily totally disabled.
Once HESAA receives your request for a deferment and all required documentation, it will notify you regarding the deferment's authorization. But there are things to bear in mind:
- The deferment begins on the date your qualifying status is certified to begin and ends on the date your qualifying status is certified to end.
- Maximum allowable time periods for all deferments except full-time and half-time study at an eligible institution shall not exceed six months for loans with a 10-year repayment term, 18 months for loans with a 15-year repayment term, 24 months for loans with a 20-year repayment term, 30 months for loans with a 25-year repayment term and 36 months for loans with a 30-year repayment term for an unemployment deferment, and for each of the remaining deferments, as established by the Authority.
- Deferments for NJCLASS loans with a 10-year repayment term are limited to unemployment deferments.
Deferments are, at best, temporary solutions to your student loan repayment problem. You are going to need something more permanent if you are going to survive long term.
Better Solutions
If you want a long term solution, then check out the information in my free book, Paying for Your Classes with a CLASS Loan: A Survival Guide to HESAA. It will tell you about all of your options and which one might work for you!
If you live in the southern New Jersey area and need more personalized assistance with your situation, then feel free to call my office at 856-432-4113 to schedule an appointment or contact me by e-mail. You need to act now; the longer you wait, the fewer options are available!
