What is the "New Grad Student Loan Playbook" webinar about?
The “New Grad Student Loan Playbook” is an annual webinar by VIN and VIN Foundation aimed at providing information and guidance to graduating veterinarians regarding their student loans and repayment options.
With the rapidly changing student loan landscape, each graduating class faces new and different challenges. Some of the most consequential mistakes happen during the initial phase of student loan repayment.
The most recent webinar, held on May 7th, 2025, covered topics such as whether to file a 2024 tax return, the implications of consolidating loans, choosing the right repayment plan, and whether using a signing bonus to pay down loans during the grace period is a good idea.
During the recent 2025 New Grad Student Loan Playbook webinar, there were many questions. Below are the questions and answers focused on Student Loan Grace Periods:
Q: What are the grace periods for federal student loans?
A: Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans and Direct Grad PLUS loans both have a 6-month post-graduation grace period. Technically, the Direct Unsubsidized Loan has a grace period and the Direct Grad PLUS loan has a 6 month post-graduation deferment.
Direct Unsubsidized Loans should enter their post-graduation grace period status shortly within the first two weeks after graduation. Contact your financial aid office if this isn’t reflected in your studentaid.gov dashboard. Your Direct Grad PLUS loans will likely show “deferment” or “STD 10 Year” during their post-graduation 6 month deferment period.
Both require no payments during this post-graduation grace or deferment period, but interest continues to accrue. While you can make voluntary payments during your grace period, you cannot earn forgiveness credit during your grace period.
Health Professions Student Loans (HPSL) and Loans for Disadvantaged Students (LDS) have a 12-month grace period. It can take 30-60 days for HPSL and LDS to officially enter their grace period after graduation. No interest accrues during the grace period for these loans. HPSL and LDS can also be deferred during advanced training (internships and/or residency training with no interest accrual). To make HPSL or LDS eligible for IDR or PSLF, you must add them to a federal Direct Consolidation Loan. If you do not consolidate HPSL or LDS, they will enter a fixed 10-year repayment plan after the grace period ends. There is no other repayment option available for HPSL or LDS.
Loans have only one grace period. If you have older loans from before veterinary school that have already used up their grace period or have previously been in repayment, they will re-enter repayment shortly after graduation.
Have more questions? Post a comment below or email [email protected].
Dr. Tony Bartels graduated in 2012 from the Colorado State University combined MBA/DVM program and is an employee of the Veterinary Information Network (VIN) and a VIN Foundation Board member. He and his wife have more than $400,000 in veterinary-school debt that they manage using federal income-driven repayment plans. By necessity (and now obsession), his professional activities include researching and speaking on veterinary-student debt, providing guidance to colleagues on loan-repayment strategies and contributing to VIN Foundation initiatives.
