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COVID-19 Information for Direct Loans

On March 13, 2020, President Trump announced that interest would be waived for all federal student loans owned by the U.S. Department of Education. On March 27, 2020, the president signed the CARES Act into law. This provides relief for your Direct Loans due to the COVID-19 emergency. We will continue to provide updates here regarding the action we are taking to help you:

0% Interest Rate

• As of March 13, 2020, your interest rate is 0% until at least September 30, 2020 or until further notice.

• Payments made on or after March 13, 2020 were automatically adjusted.

• Payments are applied first towards the interest accrued prior to March 13, 2020 and the remainder is applied to the principal balance.

Payments Stopped Through September 30, 2020

• In addition to receiving a 0% interest rate effective March 13, 2020, an Administrative forbearance will automatically be placed on your Direct Loans from March 13, 2020 through September 30, 2020.

• Our systems will be updated no later than April 10, 2020 to reflect this forbearance. We appreciate your patience.

• Notification will be sent to you after the forbearance has been placed.

• Disregard any monthly billing statement that you have or may receive. We stopped sending monthly billing statements on April 2, 2020 – No payments due.

• We stopped debiting your financial institution through our Auto-Debit program. Automatic debit was suspended for the April 3rd due date forward – No payments due.

• All calls and letters regarding payments due have stopped – No payments due.

During the Administrative Forbearance

• If your income has changed and you would like to recalculate or apply for Income Driven Repayment (IDR), visit StudentAid.gov/idr. If approved, the IDR payment plan will begin after the forbearance ends.

• If you are on a qualifying repayment plan prior to the suspension, and work full-time for a qualifying employer during the suspension, you will receive credit toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) for the period of suspension as though on-time monthly payments were made.

• If you are currently on an IDR plan your suspended payments count toward Income Driven Repayment (IDR) forgiveness.

• You can continue to make payments at any time on mohela.com, by mail or through your bank (excludes our auto-debit program).

• If you made a payment on/after March 13, 2020 and would like this refunded

  • If made via auto-debit, by phone, or on mohela.com, please contact your bank to initiate the refund request.

  • If made by check, please contact our customer service.

• If you prefer to be due (billed) for payments before September 30th, contact our customer service after you have been notified the forbearance was placed.

• We will contact you in August, to remind you that your payments will begin again after the forbearance ends. Please keep your contact information up to date on mohela.com.

For more information, please visit Federal Student Aid’s coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) information page located at StudentAid.gov/coronavirus. The page includes information about relief to student loan borrowers, including those who have defaulted on their federal student loans. Please visit the page regularly for updates.

National Emergency Information for FFELP

We are here to assist with your student loan needs during the emerging COVID-19 situation.

• If your loans are more than 14 days past due, a National Disaster/National Emergency forbearance is automatically applied for 90 days. NO Action is required by you, and you can view your current status on mohela.com.

• If your loans are less than 15 days past due, you can request the National Disaster/National Emergency forbearance by calling customer service at 888.866.4352.

• If you are participating in Auto Debit and you need relief from making payments, you can suspend your Auto Debit by calling customer service at 888.866.4352.

• To apply for or renew an Income-Based Repayment plan, please visit studentaid.gov.