Glossary

Capitalized Interest:  Unpaid interest that is added to your principal balance.  Interest capitalization typically occurs at the end of your grace period and at the end of any deferment or forbearance periods.  Capitalized interest increases your principal balance and may increase the total amount repaid over the life of your loan (s).

Compound Interest:  The interest computed on the sum of an original principal and accrued interest.  In other words, the accrued interest is added to your principal balance and your new interest return is based on that new higher principal balance.

Data Provider:  The entity from which the information being displayed comes from.  Via the Meteor Network, information may be supplied by schools, lenders, servicers, and guarantors (among others).  Not all student loan providers supply information via the Meteor Network.  Learn more

Deferment: A period of time, after your loans enter repayment, during which you may temporarily postpone your monthly payments if you meet specific requirements.  Common deferments include: Unemployment, Economic Hardship, Military, and In-School.

FDLP: William D Ford Federal Direct Loan Program.  Federal student loan program under which funding is provided directly by the federal government.  Servicing and administration of loans under FDLP is conducted by the US Department of Education through the use of multiple private servicers.

FFELP:  Federal Family Education Loan Program.  Federal student loan program under which the funding for loans is provided by private lending institutions (banks, credit unions, etc.) and guaranteed by the US Department of Education through the use of guarantors.

Forbearance: A temporary suspension of payments.  Unlike deferments which require you to meet specific criteria, forbearance is granted based on your lenders discretion.  Plainly put -- you call them up, explain your situation, they review your account and determine if they will allow you to postpone your payments for a while.

Grace period: A period of time during which payments are not due on your student loans.  The grace period for Stafford loans is 6 months from the day you leave, drop below half-time, or graduate from school.  For Perkins loans it is 9 months from the day you leave, drop below half-time, or graduate from school.

Guarantor:  Entity charged with insuring lenders against default under the FFELP program.  In addition, guarantors are responsible for providing financial literacy and default prevention training to student borrowers.  Should a borrower default on their FFELP student loans the guarantor will take over the collection of the loan.

Interest: The last reported loan balance including the Original Award Amount plus any capitalized interest and less any cancellations, refunds, or payments.: When it comes to money, interest has two slightly different meanings.  For borrowed money, interest is a charge or fee you'll pay for borrowing the money.  It is generally some percentage of the amount borrowed.  When it comes to investing or putting money into savings, interest is a profit you will recieve for investing your money.

Lender: Entity that provides the loan funding for student loans under the FFELP program or any private student loan program.

Original Award Amount:  The original dollar amount of your loan.Outstanding Loan Balance

Perkins:  Federal loan program administered directly through your school.

Servicer: In many cases, your original lender may sell or transfer your loans to a new lender or servicer.  A servicer may not necessarily own your loan but they are responsible for the day to day activities such as: billing, payment collection, and deferment or forbearance processing.  The current servicer listed on your loans is who you should contact for specific questions regarding your loan.

 Standard monthly payment: Payment schedule under which your monthly payment remains the same each month throughout your repayment term.  Under this payment plan the minimum monthly payment is $50 and the maximum repayment term is 10-years.

Subsidized Stafford: A need based federal student loan on which the interest is paid for you (by the federal government) while you are in school, grace, and during any authorized deferment period.

Unsubsidized Stafford:  A federal student loan with no interest benefits.  All accruing interest is the responsibility of the borrower.