Defer Student Loans
Loan Deferments at WesternU
Western University of Health Sciences contracts with the National Student Clearinghouse to provide enrollment information to lenders electronically. An electronic file with all students’ enrollment information is sent to the Clearinghouse on the 15th of each month, processed and then forwarded to the majority of lenders. If you are still enrolled and receive a collection letter, contact your lender or loan servicer to verify that your deferment has been processed. If it has not, contact the Clearinghouse at (703) 742-4200 and ask to speak to a Student Service Representative. The representative will verify your deferment information and, if you are being threatened with default, intervene on your behalf with your lender/servicer to ensure your deferment is processed on a priority basis.
PLEASE NOTE:
If your lender participates in the National Student Clearinghouse, you DO NOT have to complete a paper deferment form. Your enrollment will be verified electronically.
To view additional information and a list of lenders and servicers that have contracted with Clearinghouse, please visit the National Student Clearinghouse website.
You can contact Clearinghouse at (703) 742-4200. The student support line is open Mon-Thurs, 9:00am-7:00pm, and Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm, EST.
If your lender does not use the National Student Clearinghouse to verify enrollment, you may need to obtain their specific deferment form or request an enrollment verification to be forwarded to them directly. Please contact your private lending institution(s) directly for deferment instruction.
I am attempting to complete an ‘In-School’ consolidation. I have placed my loans in repayment, but my status is showing as deferred. Why?
WesternU reports to the Clearinghouse three times per semester (beginning, middle and end). You may have placed your loans in deferment status, but if the lender receives notification of enrollment from the Clearinghouse, they will change your status back to deferred. If you encounter this issue, contact the Office of the Registrar for the next date the file will be sent, and we will work with your lenders to coordinate the status of your loan so that it may be consolidated.
I am filling out my loan deferment form. What dates should I indicate in the ‘Start’ and ‘End’ fields?
Since the start and end dates for each term are very specific, we ask that students leave these fields blank as the Office of the Registrar will indicate the exact mm/dd/yy for start and end term dates. Keep in mind that our office will verify enrollment for the current term on your loan deferment form. We can only verify current and past terms of enrollment, not future terms of enrollment.
My loan servicer is requiring a history of my dates of attendance by term; however, their basic loan deferment form has only one field for ‘Start’ and ‘End’ dates. Can I indicate an all-inclusive time period indicating my first term start date to the current term end date?
If your loan servicer is requiring a history of your enrollment dates, we recommend you request a letter of enrollment to include historical dates of enrollment if they do not provide you with a specific form to indicate various term dates. Loan servicers require the specific start and end dates of each term to ensure that breaks between terms (winter, summer etc.) are not included as enrollment periods. This ensures the accurate calculation of your repayment schedule.