for example i graduate as undergrad and decide to do a master. Do i need to start repaying my loans while in graduate school or the grace period extends till i finish my graduate studies.
thank you
The federal loans are in deferment as long as you are enrolled in school – so that includes grad school
If you take a break and work a few year after undergrad, and then go back to grad – the loans will come out of deferment and then go back into deferment status during the time you are in grad school.
If the loans are subsidized, there will be no interest charged at any times the loans are in deferment. For unsubsidized loans, interest is charged all along.
I would recommend that if you are in graduate school AND you can afford it, if you have unsubsidized loans that you at least pay the interest. Not only does interest continue to accrue when you are in grad school, when you finish the interest capitalizes - that means that whatever interest the loan earned while you were in grad school gets added to your principal loan balance. That means your loan is now earning interest on a larger amount. This could be a much larger amount if you have a lot of undergrad loans.
If you can’t afford to, that’s a different issue, but if you can put a little aside to hack away at the interest it’s usually a good idea.