Repayment Options
The NHHEAF Network offers a variety of repayment options and tools to borrowers to help ensure successful repayment of their loans.
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EasyPay Automatic Payments
With the EasyPay automatic withdrawal plan you can arrange for us to withdraw your monthly payments from your checking or statement savings account. No more remembering due dates, writing checks, licking stamps or envelopes! You continue to receive your monthly statement as a reminder to debit your account.
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Repayment Information for Federal Student Loans
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Repayment Information for Alternative Loans
Borrowers Rights & Responsibilities
Rights - You have the right to:
- Prepay all or any part of your loan at any time without penalty.
- Deferment of repayment if you are eligible and if you apply according to the lender's requirements.
- Receive from your lender (after your loan is fully repaid) a copy of your promissory note or some other document showing that you have discharged your obligation.
Responsibilities - You are responsible for notifying your
servicer of:
- Name changes.
- Address changes.
- Telephone number (home & business) changes.
- SSN changes or discrepancies.
- Not enrolling at least half time at the school that certified your loan.
- Withdrawing, dropping below half time, graduating, or transferring schools. You should also notify the lender of any other changes in your status that would affect your loan status. And,
- You are responsible for repaying your loan(s)
Loan Discharge
There are special circumstances under which your FFELP (Stafford, PLUS, Consolidation and SLS) loans may be eligible for discharge.
Death
Student loans may be discharged in the event of a death. In the case of a PLUS loan, you may be eligible for loan discharge if the dependent for whom a PLUS loan was obtained dies. To qualify for a death discharge, a spouse, parent, relative or friend must provide the loan servicer with a certified copy of the death certificate.
Total and Permanent Disability
To qualify for a total and permanent disability discharge, you must not be able to work and earn money and the condition must be expected to continue indefinitely or result in death. The disability must not have begun before you received your student loan. You must request a discharge and you must have a physician certify your condition.
Some other circumstances that may qualify your loans for discharge are:
- School closure
- Unauthorized signature endorsement or unauthorized payment by the school
- You have a pre-existing, disqualifying status that prevents you from being able to work in your field of study
- False certification by the school of your ability to benefit from the course of study
If you think that you may be eligible for a loan discharge, call 1-800-719-0708, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., to discuss your circumstances with a customer service representative.
Stafford Loan Teacher Forgiveness
Loan Forgiveness for teachers applies to Stafford loans made to “new borrowers” on or after October 1, 1998, and to the portions of a Consolidation loan derived from these loans. You may qualify to have up to $17,500 of your Stafford loans forgiven if you teach in a low-income school and you are a “new borrower” (See qualifications below). A new borrower has no outstanding FFEL or Direct Loan balance on October 1, 1998 or who has no outstanding loan balance on the date he or she obtains a loan after October 1, 1998.
To qualify, basically you must work as a full-time
teacher for five consecutive years in an elementary or secondary
school that has been designated as a "low-income" school.
Qualifications:
- Teachers who started their qualified teaching service before October 30, 2004. These teachers may receive up to $5,000 in loan forgiveness for service as a full-time elementary school teacher who demonstrates knowledge and teaching skills in reading, writing, mathematics and other areas of the elementary school curriculum or for service as a full-time secondary school teacher teaching in a subject area that is relevant to their academic major;
- Teachers who started their qualified teaching service on or after October 30, 2004. These teachers may receive up to $5,000 in loan forgiveness for service as a “highly qualified”, full-time elementary or secondary school teacher, as defined in the application;
- Teachers who started their qualified teaching service on or after October 30, 2004. These teachers may receive up to $17,500 in loan forgiveness for service as a “highly qualified”, as defined in section 7 of the application, full-time mathematics or science teacher in an eligible secondary school or for service as a highly qualified special education teacher; and
- Certain teachers who previously received teacher loan forgiveness under the previous provisions of the law. These teachers may receive loan forgiveness up to the difference between $17,500 and the amount that had previously been forgiven only if the borrower is otherwise eligible and has five complete consecutive years of qualified teaching service that met the definition of a “highly qualified”, as defined in section 7 of the application, full-time mathematics or science teacher in an eligible secondary school or a highly qualified special education teacher.
Additional conditions:
- At least one of the five qualifying years of teaching must occur after the 1997-98 academic year.
- The loan must have been made before the end of the fifth year of qualifying teaching.
- The elementary or secondary school must be public or private nonprofit.
- A defaulted loan cannot be cancelled for teacher service unless you've made satisfactory repayment arrangements with the holder of the loan.
If you think that you may be eligible for a loan discharge, call 1-800-719-0708 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, to discuss your circumstances with a customer service representative. You may also visit the U.S. Department of Education website http://www.ed.gov/ for more information.
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