Federal Student Aid is simply financial aid from the federal government to help you pay for education expenses at an eligible college or career school. Grants, loans and work-study are types of federal student aid.

A Federal Student Loan is a loan funded by the federal government to help pay for your education. Remember, this is borrowed money you must repay with interest.

A grace period is the a period of time after you graduate, leave school, or drop below half-time enrollment when you are not required to make payments. Keep in mind, interest continues to accrue and you are responsible for paying it.

A loan servicer is a company responsible for handling the billing and other services on your federal student loan.

Forbearance is the period during which your monthly loan payments are temporarily suspended or reduced. Your lender may grant you a forbearance if you are willing but unable to make loan payments due to certain types of financial hardships. During forbearance, principal payments are postponed but interest continues to accrue.

Deferment is the temporary postponement of payment on a loan that is allowed under certain conditions. Depending on the type of loan(s), interest may or may not continue to accrue.

Failure to repay a loan according to the terms agreed to in the promissory note. If your loan continues to be delinquent, the loan may go into default at which point, you may be at risk of tax or wage garnishments.

Your loan becomes delinquent the first day after you miss a payment. Even if you miss just one monthly payment and then start making payments again, your loan account will remain delinquent until you repay the past due amount or make other arrangements, such as deferment or forbearance, or changing repayment plans.

Failure to repay a loan according to the terms agreed to in the promissory note. If your loan continues to be delinquent, the loan may go into default at which point, you may be at risk of tax or wage garnishments.

Direct loan consolidation is a federal loan made by the U.S. Department of Education that allows you to combine one or more federal student loans into one new loan.

An income-driven repayment plan sets your monthly student loan payment at an amount that is intended to be affordable based on your income and family size.

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program forgives the remaining balance on your Direct Loans after you have made 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time for a qualifying employer. These monthly payments are often lower than in other repayment programs.

In order to qualify for PSLF, you must meet three qualifying factors:

• You must make 120 on-time monthly payments on your Direct Loans starting after October 1, 2007.
• You must make all payments through a qualified repayment plan.
• You must work full-time for a nonprofit or public employer while making each payment.