Friday, July 27, 2007

Repayment Assistance

CSLP offers a number of programs to assist students who find themselves facing financial difficulty during repayment. Among these programs are: - Interest Relief [4], which is designed to help students meet repayment obligations if they are temporarily unable to make payments on their government student loans because of unemployment or low income. Interest Relief is granted for periods of six months, up to a maximum of 30 months. Some exceptions may apply. Students may also be eligible for a further 24 months of Extended Interest Relief. Once approved for Interest Relief, students are not required to make payments on either the monthly interest or the outstanding principal of their loan(s) (the federal and/or provincial government will pay the interest on a student's behalf).

- Debt Reduction in Repayment [5] is designed to help students facing long-term financial difficulties manage the repayment of their Student Loan(s). DRR lowers the principal amount of a loan, thereby reducing the monthly loan payment to an affordable level based on family income. A student can receive up to three reductions (totalling up to $26,000) on their Canada Student Loan principal during their lifetime, depending on financial circumstances.

- Revision of Terms [6] is a feature that provides students with the flexibility to manaqe loan repayment in a way that is responsive to individual situations. It can be used to decrease the monthly payments by increasing the repayment period (from the standard 10 years up to 15 years) should a student find the standard terms difficult to maintain. It can be used to increase loan payments by reducing the repayment period, allowing more rapid repayment of a loan.

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