An administrative forbearance on a student loan is a period during which payments to federally held student loans have been automatically paused or suspended and interest rates set to 0%. This pause keeps the loans exactly as they were at the beginning of the forbearance, and if no action is taken, the loan and interest balances will neither increase nor decrease. Administrative forbearance is granted by the lender in certain cases, such as when a deferment was granted but the lender later learns that the borrower did not qualify for the deferment. It is important to note that administrative forbearances historically do not count toward student loan forgiveness for Income-Driven Repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Borrowers can choose to make manual payments to their loans during administrative forbearance, and if they do so, the payment will first be applied toward any interest accrued from their last payment until March 13, 2020. Once that interest is paid, all additional payments will be applied toward principal on their loans. This is a great way to lower the principal balance so that when the forbearance expires and payments and interest resume, the interest will be calculated on a lower principal balance.