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What is a Perkins loan?

A Perkins loan is a type of federal student loan based on financial need.

A Perkins loan is a subsidized loan, meaning that the federal government pays the loan’s interest while you are in school. Under federal law, the Perkins loan program ended and are no longer available to students.

What do I need to know about repaying my Perkins loan?

Unlike other federal loans, your school is the lender for Perkins loans. This means you will work with your school or a company hired by your school to repay these loans. Once you start to repay your Perkins loan, you may have a different loan servicer for this loan than the rest of your federal loans. You will typically start paying back your loan nine months after you graduate or drop below half-time enrollment in school. The longest repayment term for Perkins loans is 10 years.

If you’re not sure if you have a Perkins loan, you can learn more about what type of loan you have through the U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid website. Through this website you can access information about your federal student loans.

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