BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) -- If you live in Louisiana and have a federal student loan that is in default, the U.S. Department of Education is offering you a way to get back into repayment. "Fresh Start is a lifeline for borrowers looking to transition back to affordable repayment to get back on track financially," according to U.S. DOE. The department said an estimated 100,000 borrowers in Louisiana have only a few days left to take advantage of this temporary program. The deadline to apply is Monday, Sept. 30. According to U.S. DOE, some benefits of the program for borrowers include being able to lower your monthly payment based on your income and family size, improve your credit score, avoid wage garnishment, protect your federal benefit payments, gain access to federal student grants and loans for higher education again, and qualify for federal student loan forgiveness programs. 20% of student loan recipients aren’t making payments: report There are multiple ways to get started on the Fresh Start program. You can go to this website, call 1-800-621-3115 or 1-877-825-9923 for those who are deaf or hard of hearing. You can also write a letter and send it to P.O. Box 5609, Greenville, TX 75403. U.S. DOE said the letter should "include your name, social security number, date of birth, current mailing address, and the following: 'I would like to use Fresh Start to bring my loans back into good standing.'" They said letters need to be postmarked before Tuesday, Oct. 1. Starting on that date, "the Department may be required to report loans as referred for collections to the national credit bureaus and attempt to collect the full amount of the debt through activities such as wage garnishment and withholding tax refunds or Social Security benefits," U.S. DOE said. Latest News What's a National Blue Ribbon School? These 7 Louisiana schools just won the honor Rare artifacts and ancient texts showcased at Tulane’s Latin American Library Honduran family brings healthy rice alternative to Louisiana residents Report: New Orleans Saints center Erik McCoy out for 6-8 weeks Driver escapes from sunroof after truck ends up in middle of Louisiana lake