The below random comment exchange in a sea of hundreds of comments on a mostly unrelated post is why I love Reddit.

Note: Reddit’s a site I’ve spent hours reading, every day, for years. Yes, that’s sad. But, it’s also awesome: it’s a community of dialogue, some of it brilliant, some fun, some stupid, some mob-mentality…it’s all self-sorting in a way. While Reddit isn’t independent, it is one of the most simple (craigslist-level design) and simultaneously brilliant manifestation of knowledge, news, humor…well, everything that goes into societal dynamics, ever. ~ ed.

[–]Akiba89 90 points 7 hours ago
Yep. I’m unemployed right now, have a student loan payment coming up and I’m secretly nervous as fuck about how to pay it. How did I start my day? Making silly noises at my dog to make him tilt his head.
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[–]GaiusMagnus 152 points 6 hours ago*
I worked for a large private lender that is a subcontractor of the U.S. Department of Education. My only job there was to help people in situations like yours. Obviously, I don’t know the details of your particular loan(s) but if you have federal sub or unsub Stafford loans then you are almost certainly eligible for an unemployment deferment, or an economic hardship forbearance, or to be temporarily placed into Income Based Repayment or Income Sensitive Repayment — IBR is the better option. (This can be done right over the phone and takes about five to ten minutes worth of time.)
If you have “private” student loan debt, through a company like say, Sallie Mae, you’ll also almost certainly be eligible for deferment.
The biggest thing is this, don’t be afraid to call your student loan company and ask about your options, or for assistance. Trust me, there will be plenty of people there who are paid to do nothing but help people in your exact situation. (Like I said, I used to be one of them.) There’s no shame in it. The safeguards are built right into the lending system to prevent people from damaging their credit, being delinquent on payment, going into default, etc.
TL/DR: Call your student loan lender, you’ve got plenty of options, nothing to be nervous about.
EDIT: Missed a word or two.
EDIT II: Thanks for the gold, kind stranger. 🙂
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[–]Akiba89 50 points 6 hours ago
Just got their contact number, calling them now 🙂