Whether you are preparing for college, attending school, or already repaying your student loans, we have tools and resources to help you make the best decisions for you. A repayment plan based on your income can help you manage your federal student loan payments.
Three plans – Standard, Graduated, and Extended – are generally available to borrowers of Direct and FFELP Loans.
Standard plans last up to 10 years (or up to 30 years for Consolidation Loans).
Fixed monthly payment amounts with a minimum amount of $50 per month.
Monthly payment amounts are based on your total loan amount – the more you owe, the higher your monthly payment will be.
You’ll pay less interest over time under this plan than under other plans.
Graduated repayment plans offer lower payments that step up to a fully amortizing payment.
Graduated payments are lower at first and then increase, usually every two years, and are set at an amount to ensure your loans are repaid within the remaining terms.
The repayment term is generally up to 10 years and may be up to 30 years for Consolidation Loans.
Extended repayment plans offer up to 25 years to repay your loans.
Extended plans are available for most borrowers with more than $30,000 in Direct Loan balances or $30,000 in FFELP loan balances.
An extended plan can be combined with either a Standard or Graduated Repayment Plan.
If you’re repaying federal student loans in an Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan, each year you need to re-certify your plan by providing updated income documentation and certification of your family size. Generally, this is around the same time of the year that you first began repayment under the IDR plan that you selected.
It’s important for you to provide the required information by the specified annual deadline. If you miss the deadline, unpaid accrued interest may be capitalized (added to the Unpaid Principal), and your monthly payment will no longer be based on your income. This may cause your Monthly Payment Amount to increase.