Why Are My Student Loans in Administrative Forbearance?

If you’ve been placed on administrative forbearance and don’t know why, here is more information about why so many borrowers are on it and what to do next.

You might be concerned because you didn’t request to be on forbearance. However, if you get an email or letter or see on your student loan portal that you’re on administrative forbearance, your student loan servicer has placed you there due to an issue outside your control.

What is administrative forbearance?

Administrative forbearance is a temporary suspension or reduction of federal student loan payments initiated by the loan servicer or the U.S. Department of Education in response to specific circumstances, such as national emergencies or significant technical issues. 

During this period, interest generally doesn’t accrue on the loans, providing relief to borrowers without increasing their debt burden. Unlike regular forbearance, which the borrower must request, administrative forbearance is automatic based on the situation.

Feature	Admin. forbearance	Regular forbearance
Who initiates?	Loan servicer or U.S. Dept. of Education	Borrower
Purpose	Response to emergencies or system issues	Financial hardship or other reasons
Interest accrues?	Not typically	Yes, typically
Duration	Determined by the situation	Up to 12 months, renewable
Application required?	No	Yes
Payment required?	No	No

Why are my student loans in administrative forbearance?

Administrative forbearance is prevalent in 2024 due to issues surrounding the SAVE Plan (Saving on a Valuable Education Plan). However, your loans could be in administrative forbearance for other reasons. Contact your student loan servicer if you have questions about why you’re in administrative forbearance.

SAVE administrative forbearance

The SAVE Plan is a new type of income-driven repayment plan for federal student loans intended to replace the REPAYE Plan. The plan aims to lower monthly payments for enrolled student loan borrowers by adjusting payments based on their income. 

However, the process of enrolling millions of people in the SAVE Plan encountered hiccups. Student loan servicers experienced delays when recalculating student loan payments, so they placed many borrowers into administrative forbearance until these issues were resolved. 

Then, the SAVE plan couldn’t go into effect as expected. A legal battle in federal court is preventing the Department of Education from fully implementing the SAVE plan. Millions of borrowers are now in administrative forbearance until further notice during this legal battle.

Administrative forbearance by servicer

Several of the main student loan servicers recently placed borrowers in administrative forbearance. Here are several affected services and their contact information.

Servicer	Loans in admin. forbearance?	Contact info
MOHELA	Yes	Speak with customer service by calling 888-866-4352.
Edfinancial	Yes	Live chat is available on the website, or call 855-337-6884.
Aidvantage	Yes	Call 800-722-1300 to speak with this servicer. (You might be able to get a refund for payments made during administrative forbearance.)
Nelnet	Yes	Calling 888-486-4722.

Why is MOHELA putting me on administrative forbearance?

Many borrowers who have MOHELA as a student loan servicer have gotten messages about being on administrative forbearance. If you’re one of these borrowers, it’s likely due to the legal battles over the SAVE program.

Some borrowers report that their forbearance will last until 2040. This year may be a placeholder or will change once the legal battles over the SAVE Plan end. To confirm the validity of this date, contact MOHELA at 888-866-4352.

What is administrative forbearance in Edfinancial?

Edfinancial is another major student loan servicer that has placed many borrowers in administrative forbearance while courts dispute the viability of the SAVE Plan.

For more information, contact Edfinancial via live chat on its website or at 855-337-6884.

Aidvantage put me on administrative forbearance, and I did not request it

Aidvantage placed borrowers in administrative forbearance due to issues with the SAVE Plan.

If you made payments during administrative forbearance, Aidvantage reports that you might qualify for a refund. Call 800-722-1300 to speak with this servicer. 

Why is my Nelnet account in administrative forbearance?

For many borrowers, administrative forbearance with Nelnet is likely due to legal disputes over President Biden’s SAVE Plan. Due to pending multistate lawsuits, student loan servicers were instructed to place millions of borrowers on administrative forbearance until a decision is reached on the future of the SAVE program.

How do I know if my student loans are in administrative forbearance?

If your loans are in administrative forbearance, you should have gotten an email or a letter explaining your loan status. Some borrowers report logging in to see an administrative forbearance notice on their loan servicer portal.

Borrowers report seeing several messages or phrases related to administrative forbearance. Below are common messages you might find in an email letter or on your student loan portal.

Many borrowers were surprised to find their student loans in administrative forbearance and are confused as to why their loans were in forbearance when they didn’t request it. If you’re still unsure why you are in forbearance or you want the forbearance removed, contact your loan servicer.

Message	What it means
IDR proc admin	Loan servicers have not published what “IDR proc admin” means. However, borrowers enrolled in SAVE report seeing this message. It’s possible it stands for “processing administrative forbearance.”
Awaiting form administrative forbearance	Your current student loan servicer is waiting on information or instructions and has placed you on administrative forbearance until it receives it. This might be for an IDR plan or a SAVE plan.
MOHELA processing forbearance	This is for borrowers with MOHELA as their student loan servicer. This message means MOHELA is processing a forbearance decision and will update you in the future.
MOHELA has placed an administrative forbearance on your account	This is for borrowers with student loans serviced by MOHELA. It means MOHELA has placed the borrower in administrative forbearance.
Admin form for remediation Nelnet	Account remediation occurs when a student loan servicer must correct errors affecting student loan borrowers. Call your student loan servicer to find out whether it needs more information from you to correct any account errors that affect your billing statements, payments, or being incorrectly removed from forbearance.
Exceptional discretionary forbearance	This could be due to an exceptional circumstance, such as borrowers waiting to hear whether they qualify for a borrower’s defense discharge or those waiting for a decision on the SAVE program. Contact your servicer if you didn’t request it.

What to do if your loan payment is placed on administrative forbearance

If you’ve received a letter or email saying you’ve been placed in administrative forbearance, check your student loan portal to see whether your student loan payment is due. 

Payments and interest should be paused during administrative forbearance, but it’s wise to ensure that’s reflected on your student loan servicer’s website. If it’s not, call your student loan servicer to clarify next steps. Wait times might be long when you call your servicer.

If you see that your student loans are paused, no payment is due, and you’ve been notified that you’re in administrative forbearance, you can wait for further instructions from your student loan servicer.

Can you make payments during administrative forbearance?

You can still make payments while you’re in an administrative forbearance. Doing so can be helpful. With interest rates at 0%, your payments will go further in bringing down your loan principal.

Does an administrative forbearance count toward PSLF?

The Department of Education advises that the current administrative forbearance for borrowers enrolled in the SAVE Plan does not count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). It’s unclear why because the PSLF Certification and Application form states that mandatory administrative forbearance counts as an eligible PSLF payment equivalent.

Furthermore, this is a departure from the administrative pause that occurred during the pandemic from March 13, 2020, until September 1, 2023. According to Federal Student Aid, those paused payments counted toward PSLF as long as you met other PSLF qualifications.

It’s possible the months SAVE borrowers spend in administrative forbearance could retroactively count toward PSLF. It’s also possible the Department of Education’s stance could change depending on upcoming court decisions. However, as it stands now, time in the SAVE program does not count towards PSLF.

Applying for administrative forbearance

Typically, a student loan servicer initiates an administrative forbearance. However, if you’ve submitted your PSLF application form after making 120 qualifying payments, you can apply for administrative forbearance while you wait for a PSLF decision. This will pause your payments while Federal Student Aid verifies your employment eligibility and loan forgiveness.

Does interest accrue during administrative forbearance?

Loan servicers may initiate administrative forbearance because of ongoing litigation, paperwork delays, clerical issues, or global events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, interest does not accrue on your student loans.

You can still make payments during administrative forbearance—and it should accelerate your loan payoff because your entire payment will go toward your loan principal.

Our expert’s recommendations: Best use of monthly payments while loans are in administrative forbearance

Erin Kinkade

CFP®

First, I recommend establishing at least one month’s worth of living expenses. Second, ensure you’re contributing to your employer’s retirement plan, especially if the employer matches your contributions, or an IRA if an employer-sponsored retirement plan is not an option. If you have high-interest debt, I recommend planning to pay it down. If you don’t have high-interest debt, I recommend establishing a savings plan to reach three to six months’ living expenses. Last, if you don’t have high-interest debt and have established an emergency fund account covering at least three months of living expenses, I suggest increasing or maximizing your savings to your retirement plan or IRA. Depending on your life and financial goals, direct any excess beyond that into an investment account or interest-bearing savings account to pre-fund a future goal, such as a home purchase down payment, vacation, or vehicle purchase. I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention considering risk mitigation by reviewing insurance needs with a licensed insurance agent to evaluate property/casualty, life, and disability insurance.

Other types of forbearance

The three types of forbearance are general, mandatory, and administrative. 

• General forbearance is borrower-initiated forbearance, where a borrower requests forbearance due to economic hardship. With general forbearance, interest does accrue.
• Mandatory forbearance includes situations where your loan servicer must grant forbearance if you meet certain qualifications—for instance, you’re serving in an AmeriCorps position. 

Interest accrues during general forbearance and mandatory forbearance, but you can make small payments to prevent your loan balance from growing due to accrued interest costs.

Is there a student loan administrative forbearance end date? 

The Department of Education has not released a specific end date for the administrative forbearance related to the SAVE program, with more than 8 million borrowers enrolled. 

The administrative hold is due to multistate lawsuits. While the courts decide whether SAVE will be a viable program in the future, borrowers will remain in administrative forbearance. Put another way, any administrative forbearance remains in effect until the issue that created it is resolved. 

For borrowers who requested administrative forbearance while waiting for their PSLF forgiveness decision, the forbearance will end when you receive notification that, one, your loans are forgiven or two, you have more payments to make.

Stay current on the federal court rulings regarding the SAVE Plan.

FAQ

What is the difference between administrative forbearance and deferment?

Administrative forbearance is a temporary pause in payments initiated by the loan servicer during emergencies, during which interest may not accrue. Deferment is a pause in payments for which the borrower must apply. It is often used for specific situations, such as returning to school, during which interest on Subsidized Loans does not accrue.

What happens if you can’t pay after administrative forbearance ends?

If you can’t resume payments after administrative forbearance ends, you may consider applying for an income-driven repayment plan, requesting a deferment, or asking for regular forbearance. These options can help you avoid delinquency or default.

Can you get a student loan administrative forbearance extension?

Administrative forbearance is usually tied to specific events or emergencies, and its extension depends on decisions made by the U.S. Department of Education. If the underlying reason persists, the forbearance may be extended automatically.

Does administrative forbearance affect my credit score?

Administrative forbearance does not affect your credit score; payments are paused without penalty. However, the delinquency may influence your credit if you were delinquent before the forbearance was applied.

I received a notice of delinquency forbearance on my loans, but I made my payments. What should I do?

If you receive a notice of delinquency despite making your payments, contact your loan servicer immediately. Provide documentation of your payments to resolve any errors and ensure your account accurately reflects your payment history.

What is borrower defense administrative forbearance?

Borrower defense administrative forbearance is granted to borrowers who have applied for a loan discharge under the borrower defense to repayment rule, claiming their school misled them. 

This forbearance pauses payments while the application is reviewed, and depending on the situation, interest may or may not accrue.