While You’re in Residency or Fellowship
Your payment is a flat $100 a month, regardless of your loan balance. This is the only payment plan option on this loan. It's designed to keep your payment low and predictable while your income is limited during residency.
Additional Benefits:
- No fees, ever. We don’t charge any fees, including late fees, origination fees, application fees, or early repayment fees.
- No interest capitalization. Interest accrues, but it's never added to your loan's principal at any point in your loan's life.
- Autopay discount available(1). Enroll in autopay for a 0.25% rate discount.
During Your Grace Period
After you finish residency, you'll continue paying $100 a month for a 9-month grace period before moving into full repayment.
Once You’re in Full Repayment
After your grace period ends, your loan moves into full principal-and-interest payments based on your loan's terms (your interest rate, remaining balance, and repayment period). We'll send you a statement ahead of this transition so there are no surprises.
This is also the point at which you become eligible for the following payment relief options, if you ever need some flexibility:
| Relief Option | How It Works |
|---|---|
| Short-Term Interest-Only Payments | Available in 3-month increments once you're in full repayment. A helpful option if you need to temporarily reduce your payment to just the interest portion. |
| Skip-a-Pay(2) | Allows you to skip a monthly payment after making 6 consecutive, on-time full payments. After using a skip, you become eligible again once you make 12 more consecutive, on-time full payments with a lifetime cap of 12 months total over the life of your loan. |
| Forbearance | Available in increments of 1 to 3 months if you're facing a temporary financial hardship, with a lifetime cap of 12 months total over the life of your loan. |
Important: Relief Options Will Not Be Available During the $100 Fixed Payment Period
While you're in your residency, fellowship, or the 9-month grace period, these relief programs will not be available. Since your payment is already reduced to $100 a month, they're designed to kick in once you're in full repayment and might need some flexibility.
Where To Check Your Status
You can always see your current repayment status (in residency, in grace, or in full repayment), your fixed payment amount, and your expected full-repayment start date right on your dashboard. If you ever have questions about which stage you're in or what relief options might be available to you, please reach out to us by clicking the "Get In Touch" button found at the bottom of this article. Our team is happy to walk you through it.
1 You can take advantage of the Auto Pay interest rate reduction by setting up and maintaining active and automatic ACH withdrawal of your loan payment from a checking or savings account. The interest rate reduction for Auto Pay will be available only while your loan is enrolled in Auto Pay. Interest rate incentives for utilizing Auto Pay may not be combined with certain private student loan repayment programs that also offer an interest rate reduction. For multi-party loans, only one party may enroll in Auto Pay.
2 Earnest clients may skip a payment through a one, one-month forbearance during a 12 month period. Your first request to skip a payment can be made once you’ve made at least 6 months of consecutive on-time full principal and interest payments, and your loan is in good standing. The interest accrued during the skipped month will result in an increase in your remaining minimum payment. The final payoff date on your loan will be extended by the length of the skipped payment periods. Any unpaid accrued interest may capitalize (added to the principal balance) at the end of the forbearance period by adding unpaid accrued interest to the outstanding principal as permitted by law and the terms of the loan agreement.
Interest will not be capitalized on loans originated to Michigan residents under the Regulatory Loan Act of 1963. Please be aware that a skipped payment does count toward the forbearance limits. Please note that skipping a payment is not guaranteed and is at Earnest's discretion. Your monthly payment and total loan cost may increase as a result of postponing your payment and extending your term.