Can you pay off Federal Loans whenever you want?

Paying for College
1

Alright I know this sounds a little amateur-ish, but my number one/dream school gave me a pretty solid FA package that includes federal loans and a very low out of pocket cost beyond that. I will be taking the maximum amount for an independent student per year with the unsubsidized + subsidize. Due to outside scholarships, I won’t have to take out any my freshman year thankfully. However for future years when I do take out the loans…

Am I allowed to just randomly put money on them throughout the school year/over the summer? I expect to be working over the summer and can work over breaks due to some connections with employers who often need part time help. I’d rather take out the loans to be sure than overwork/exert myself during the school year trying to pay without them so I just wanted to know if it was possible.

So like before the grace period - say randomly winter break of sophomore year I pay 1,000 on one. Something like that. I was reading the website and wasn’t sure. x.x Thanks in advance!

2

Yes, you can pay whatever amount you want on them, whenever. Actually, since they accrue interest daily from when you get the funds, it is best to put any amount you can on them, so the interest amount doesn’t become too high to pay off, and then it rolls into the loan after the 6 month grace period.

3

If you take both the sub and unsub loans, make sure you instruct them to apply any payments to the unsubbed loans first as interest on those start almost immediately.

If you don’t think you’ll need all the loan money sophomore year, take only the subbed money first, and then if you need the unsubbed you can take that when/if you need it.