<prompt> Human: As the title says, I applied for IBR on my student loans last month. Im putting cash away for college and wanted to make sure I was saving as much as possible for any unforeseen expenses. I was easily approved. In fact, they said that at my income level, I wouldnt have to pay anything at all. Temporary low-income situation that should pay off in the next 6-9 months. Im making it work until I have a reason not to.0month was better than I was looking for, honestly, but the extra 50month towards my savings seemed like a good idea at the time.Anyway, I checked Credit Karma today and my score has dropped from the low 600s into the 540s with no other changes to my report. My student loans now say Open- Current and then Deferred. Is this right? I didnt ask for a deferment or to stop paying altogether. I just wanted to free up a few extra bucks a month. Now Ive lost something like 18 months of progress on restoring my credit score.Any ideas? The only thing I can think of is to sign up for a secured credit card likely the only thing Ill be approved for and use it for my mandatory expenses like fuel and such. I really dont want to go that route after seeing my banks terms, but I dont really know any other way to recoup what Ive lost.  <response>: I cant answer for the credit score drop, as I am also on IBR, but it is very common for your loans to go into one month of deferment while everything is being updated and switching to the new payment plan. This has happened to me nearly every year that Ive reapplied for my IBR. 