Fill Out In-School Deferment Request Online
In-School Deferment Request (SCH)
Federal Student Aid
Requests postponement of federal student loan payments while the borrower is enrolled at least half time at an eligible school.
Reviewed July 2026
How it works
- 1
Open the form. The official PDF loads straight into the editor, no download needed first.
- 2
Fill it out in the editor. Click anywhere to type, add checkmarks and place your signature.
- 3
Download your PDF. Save the completed form, ready to print or submit.
The In-School Deferment Request (SCH) postpones payments on Direct Loans, FFEL Program loans, and Perkins Loans while you are enrolled at least half time at an eligible school. It is the form to use when you return to school and your servicer has not already applied the deferment from enrollment records.
You can fill in the borrower sections in the Universal PDF editor, download and sign the PDF, then bring it to your school's registrar or financial aid office for the certification in Section 4 before sending everything to your loan servicer.
What the in-school deferment is used for
While the deferment is in place you are not required to make payments. Subsidized loans do not charge you interest during the period; unsubsidized loans keep accruing interest that may capitalize later, though never on Perkins Loans. Perkins borrowers also get a six month post-deferment grace period.
Many servicers apply this deferment automatically when schools report enrollment, and schools can also report through the National Student Loan Data System instead of signing the form. The paper request matters when the automatic route has not happened or you want the deferment applied to loans at a servicer that has not received your enrollment data.
Who should use the In-School Deferment Request
Borrowers enrolled at least half time at an eligible school, which generally means a school participating in the federal student aid programs. Perkins Loan borrowers must additionally be enrolled as regular students in a degree or certificate program.
Graduate and professional students with PLUS Loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2008 automatically receive an extra six months of deferment after dropping below half time, and parent PLUS borrowers in school can check a box requesting the same six month extension on their own PLUS Loans.
How to fill out the form
The form splits between you and a school official:
- Section 1: your SSN, date of birth, name, address, and contact information
- Section 3: your requests, including optional checkboxes to make interest payments during the deferment and to defer a PLUS Loan for the six month period after enrollment ends, plus your signature and date
- Section 4: completed by an authorized school official, who certifies your enrollment status as full time or at least half time, the enrollment period dates, your expected program completion date, and the school's OPEID number
How to submit it
Send the completed form to the address shown in Section 7 of your copy; if no address is printed, return it to your loan servicer. Only the first four pages are needed, and a separate request goes to each loan holder if your loans are split across servicers.
Instead of having an official sign Section 4, you may attach separate documentation from the school containing the same information, or ask the school to report your enrollment to the National Student Loan Data System.
Frequently asked questions
Often not. Servicers regularly apply in-school deferments automatically from enrollment reporting. Submit the form when the deferment has not appeared on your account, when you enrolled recently, or when a servicer asks for a signed certification.
Your school defines half-time status and its official certifies it in Section 4. The form only requires that the school checks full time or at least half time for the enrollment period being certified.
It runs while you remain enrolled at least half time, as certified by the school, and ends when you no longer qualify. There is no cumulative time limit like the hardship and unemployment deferments have.
Subsidized loans do not charge you interest during the deferment. Unsubsidized and PLUS Loans accrue interest the whole time, and unpaid interest may capitalize when the deferment ends, so the form offers a checkbox to pay interest as you go.
PLUS Loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2008 qualify for a deferment covering the six months after the student drops below half-time enrollment. Graduate and professional student borrowers receive it automatically; parent borrowers request it with a checkbox in Section 3.
Related forms
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