What is a Perkins loan?

A Perkins Loan is a low interest, subsidized federal student loan, meaning you won’t pay or collect interest while you are in school and during the grace period after you leave school. The Department of Education pays the loan’s interest during that time. It is offered to undergraduate and graduate students with extreme financial need.

The Perkins Federal Loan Program ended in 2017. However, people who received a Perkins Loan are still required to pay those loans and are still eligible for the benefits of the Perkins Loan Program.

Perkins loan repayment

Unlike other federal loans, your school is the lender for Perkins loans. This means you must work with your school, or a company hired by your school, to repay these loans.

Once you started repaying your Perkins loan, you may have received a different loan servicer for this loan than the rest of your federal loans. You likely started paying back your loan nine months after you graduated or dropped 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.

Here are some general tips for successfully repaying your student loans.