How student loans are counted when you apply for a mortgage

When you apply, the lender pulls your credit report. Each student loan shows up there with a balance and a monthly payment, and that payment is sometimes $0.

The lender adds a monthly amount for those loans to your other debts and compares the total to your gross monthly income. That is your debt-to-income ratio. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes it as all your monthly debt payments divided by your gross monthly income. Different loan products and lenders have different limits, and those limits depend on the full file.

FHA, VA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac each have a written rule for which student loan amount goes into that ratio, and the rules do not match. That is why two buyers with the same balance can be counted differently. If you are buying your first home, the first-time homebuyer page is where I walk through the paths I use in Northern Virginia. The counting rules themselves are national.

FHA counts every student loan, no matter the status. That includes loans in deferment and forbearance. HUD’s handbook says the lender must include all student loans in your liabilities, regardless of the payment type or status of payments.

If the credit report shows a payment above $0, the lender uses that payment, or a documented actual payment. If the report shows $0, the lender uses 0.5% of the outstanding balance. For every $10,000 of student loan balance reporting a $0 payment, FHA counts $50 a month. That figure is the student loan calculation from the handbook. It is not a mortgage payment.

If you want a lower payment than the credit report shows to be used, the lender needs written proof from the servicer of the actual payment, the status, the balance, and the terms. A loan that has been forgiven, canceled, discharged, or paid in full can be left out with written proof. The same text applies when an FHA loan is manually underwritten.

HUD removed its old COVID-era exception in the August 2026 handbook update, so older articles that mention using a pre-pause payment are out of date.

Most conventional loans are written to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac rules, and the two differ on student loans. Which rule applies to you depends on how your loan is underwritten. Your loan officer can tell you. Here, conventional means Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conforming loans. Jumbo loans may count student loans more strictly, so ask your loan officer if your loan amount is above the conforming limit.

Fannie Mae: the lender can use the payment on the credit report, or the payment on your most recent student loan statement if the report is wrong. Only when the credit report shows $0 or no payment at all does the special list apply. If you are on an income-driven plan and documents show your actual payment is $0, the lender may qualify you with $0. If the loan is deferred or in forbearance, the lender may use 1% of the balance or a fully amortizing payment based on the documented terms. If the credit report already shows a payment above $0, those options do not come into play. For every $10,000 of balance, Fannie Mae’s deferment or forbearance option (only when the credit report shows $0 or no payment) is $100 a month. That figure is the student loan calculation, not a mortgage payment.

Freddie Mac: something above $0 always counts. If the report shows $0, the lender uses 0.5% of the balance unless documents support a different payment above $0. For every $10,000 of balance reporting $0, that amount is $50 a month. That figure is the student loan calculation, not a mortgage payment. On an income-driven plan that must be recertified, or whose payment will increase, on or before the due date of the first payment on the new loan, Freddie Mac uses the greater of the current payment or 0.5% of the balance, or the documented future payment if that is higher.

VA is the one program where a deferred loan can be left out entirely, but only with written proof the deferment runs at least 12 months past your closing date, not your application date. If you are looking at a VA loan, read VA loans for first-time buyers for who may be eligible. Student loan counting is separate from that eligibility.

If the loan is in repayment, or will start within 12 months of closing, the lender calculates 5% of the balance divided by 12 for each loan. VA’s own example is a $25,000 balance: $25,000 x 5% = $1,250, and $1,250 divided by 12 = $104.17 a month. Per $10,000 of balance, that same rule is about $41.67 a month. Those figures are the student loan calculation. They are not a mortgage payment, and they are not paired with an income or a home price.

If the credit report payment is higher than that calculation, the lender uses the credit report. If it is lower, the lender can use the lower actual payment only with a servicer statement dated within 60 days of closing. VA accepts an electronic copy from the servicer’s website. VA’s handbook speaks to deferment, not forbearance by name, so if you are in forbearance, ask how your lender treats it.

Forbearance is a temporary pause or reduction of your student loan payments because of financial difficulty. Federal servicers can grant it for up to 12 months at a time. It does not make the loan disappear from your debt-to-income ratio on FHA, Fannie Mae, or Freddie Mac. Each of those rules covers forbearance, as described above.

A defaulted or delinquent federal debt, including a federal student loan, can block an FHA or VA loan until it is resolved. Lenders check a federal database for it. Exactly what counts as resolved depends on the lender and your file. Conventional loans have their own credit rules; ask your loan officer.

On conventional loans, a student loan someone else has been paying may be left out if you can document 12 months of on-time payments by that person. Ask your loan officer.