§ 57.210 Repayment and collection of health professions student loans.

(a) Each health professions student loan, including accrued interests, will be repayable in equal or graduated periodic installments in amounts calculated on the basis of a 10-year repayment period. Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, repayment of a loan must begin one year after the student ceases to be a full-time student.

(1) If a borrower reenters the same or another school as a full-time student within the 1-year period, the date upon which interest will accrue and the repayment period will begin will be determined by the date on which the student last ceases to be a full-time student at that school.

(2) The following periods will be excluded from the 10-year repayment period:

(i) All periods for up to a total of 3 years of active duty performed by the borrower as a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corps or the U.S. Public Health Service Corps;

(ii) All periods for up to a total of 3 years of service as a volunteer under the Peace Corps Act;

(iii) All periods of advanced professional training including internships and residencies, except as specified in paragraph (a)(2)(vi) of this section;

(iv) All periods during which the borrower is pursuing a full-time course of study at an eligible health professions school;

(v) A period not in excess of 2 years during which a borrower who is a full-time student in a health professions school leaves the school, with the intent to return to such school as a full-time student, to engage in a full-time educational activity which is directly related to the health profession for which the individual is preparing. To qualify for such deferment, the full-time educational activity must be one which:

(A) Is part of a joint-degree program or a formal program of joint study in conjunction with the health profession for which the borrower is preparing at the school; or

(B) Is an activity which will enhance the borrower's knowledge and skills in the health profession for which the borrower is preparing at the school, as determined by the school.

The borrower must request such deferment from the school in which he or she is enrolled no later than 60 days prior to leaving such school to engage in the full-time educational activity. The school must then determine, no later than 30 days prior to the borrower's leaving such school, whether the borrower qualifies for such deferment. A borrower who qualifies for this type of deferment receives the grace period upon completion or termination of his or her studies leading to the first professional degree in the health discipline being pursued. If the borrower fails to return to school, the school retroactively must begin the borrower's grace period based on the date the borrower terminated his or her studies at the school, and must begin the repayment period immediately following the end of the grace period; and

(vi) A period not in excess of 2 years during which a borrower who is a graduate of a health professions school participates in:

(A) A fellowship training program which is directly related to the health profession for which the borrower prepared at the school, as determined by the school from which the borrower received his or her loan, and is engaged in by the borrower no later than 12 months after the completion of the borrower's participation in advanced professional training as described in paragraph (a)(2)(iii) of this section, or prior to the completion of such borrower's participation in such training. To qualify for such deferment, the fellowship training program must be one which: