Hello, everyone! I am currently getting ready to transfer in order to finish up my undergrad degree at a 4-year (going from a CC). As a non-traditional student with a full-time job and no family to help financially, I will need to take out loans (federal, not private) in order to complete my schooling. I am a nutrition major and after graduation, intend on doing the year-long dietetic internship in order to take the RD exam.
Once I graduate from the 4-year, I know that loan repayment starts 6 months after graduation. But, what if I am enrolled in the internship? Will loan repayment be required while I am in the internship? I will be paying to be a part of the internship and they are run by various universities, so technically, it’s school, right? The internship is full-time, so during that year, I will not be working and have no income.
There are some internships that are bundled with a Master’s, while others are just internship only. At this present time (it might change in 2 years), I am considering the internship only. I know that Master’s program will only add on more cost - and in turn more loans. But, for sure, if I chose a Master’s program with the internship, the loan repayment wouldn’t start after graduation from undergrad?
Any insight into this is appreciated. Thank you! 
Does anyone have any insight on this?
Do you register for the internship and pay tuition for the course? If so, shouldn’t be a problem as you are still in school. If not, the interest might start running, but you can ask for a deferment or go on an interest based repaymentioned plan.
@twoinanddone Thank you for the response!
You pay for the internship and if you go into a Master’s Program at the same time, then you pay tuition at the school for the Master’s as well. There’s two separate costs.
From my understanding, the internship only programs are still run through a university (or another accredited facility - such as Sodexo), but you’re only paying for the internship opportunity and don’t get a Master’s at the end.
The second option (internship only) is what I’m looking at doing at the moment. So in this case, I would ask for a deferment on my undergrad loans?
First as the school if the internship period is considered being enrolled as a student. It would be the school that reports you to the loan services as graduated or no longer in school, which starts the 6 month grace period running. An undergrad school will do that even if you are going on to grad school, and then you have to inform the servicer that you are still in school.
If you aren’t considered still in school, you can ask for the deferment during the 6 month period.