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Title 20 — EducationRelease 119-73

§1098f Deferral of loan repayment following active duty

Title 20 › Chapter CHAPTER 28— - HIGHER EDUCATION RESOURCES AND STUDENT ASSISTANCE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER IV— - STUDENT ASSISTANCE › Part Part G— - General Provisions Relating to Student Assistance Programs › § 1098f

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

If you have a student loan and you are in the National Guard, another reserve unit, or retired from the armed forces, and you were called to active duty while you were enrolled (or had been enrolled within six months before being called), you can pause repaying your loan for 13 months after your service ends. The pause ends if you go back to being an enrolled student. “Active duty” means the usual military active-duty definition from federal law, but it does not count duty for training or attending a service school. For National Guard members, it also includes active State duty.

Full Legal Text

Title 20, §1098f

Education — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In addition to any deferral of repayment of a loan made under this subchapter pursuant to section 1078(b)(1)(M)(iii), 1087e(f)(2)(C), or 1087dd(c)(2)(A)(iii) of this title, a borrower of a loan under this subchapter who is a member of the National Guard or other reserve component of the Armed Forces of the United States, or a member of such Armed Forces in a retired status, is called or ordered to active duty, and is enrolled, or was enrolled within six months prior to the activation, in a program of instruction at an eligible institution, shall be eligible for a deferment during the 13 months following the conclusion of such service, except that a deferment under this subsection shall expire upon the borrower’s return to enrolled student status.
(b)Notwithstanding section 1088(d) of this title, in this section, the term “active duty” has the meaning given such term in section 101(d)(1) of title 10, except that such term—
(1)does not include active duty for training or attendance at a service school; but
(2)includes, in the case of members of the National Guard, active State duty.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section effective Oct. 1, 2007, see section 1(c) of Pub. L. 110–84, set out as an

Effective Date

of 2007 Amendment note under section 1070a of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

20 U.S.C. § 1098f

Title 20 — Education

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73