Review Repayment Options
How can I control my student loan payments?
There are a variety of flexible repayment options. At least one should fit your needs. The trouble comes in sorting through the choices. Each plan is unique and some require you meet specific conditions before applying.
To simplify your search, we’ve grouped repayment plans based on the problems they address. Find the statements that most closely resemble your goals. Then, investigate the repayment plans they suggest.
You can use the short exercises on Set My Repayment Goals to define what features you require from a repayment plan.
Quick Tip: Stay Up to Date
The Department of Education is in the process of creating new repayment options. To receive important updates from the Department, sign up for email notifications.
“I want lower monthly student loan payments.”
Several plans will reduce your monthly payment amount, but they may cost you more in the long run. These plans charge you more in interest over the life of the loan (when compared to the Standard Repayment Plan). This could leave you paying thousands of extra dollars depending on the size of your loans.
That said, these plans can help you balance your budget and keep up with payments. To lower your monthly payments, check out these repayment plans.
Income-Driven Repayment (IDR)
A suite of plans — including the new SAVE Plan — that usually offer the lowest monthly payments possible. Available options will depend on the types of loans you have and when you received them. Learn more.
Graduated Repayment
Provides lower monthly payments today by charging you higher monthly payments in the future. Learn more.
Extended Repayment
Lowers monthly payments by increasing the length of your repayment period from 10 years to a maximum of 25 years. Learn more.
“I want to temporarily stop my monthly student loan payments.”
Your loan servicer may be able to temporarily pause monthly payments through either a deferment or forbearance. To apply for one of these programs, your situation must match specific criteria. Qualifying conditions range from unemployment to receiving cancer treatment.
Deferment and forbearance have a downside. Some types of loans continue to build interest. That means you’ll owe more on your loans when you leave the plan than when you start it. You can avoid the shock by paying off the accumulated interest each month.
“I want to pay off my student loans as quickly and/or cheaply as possible.”
Standard Repayment offers the shortest repayment period of any plan. Less time in repayment means less time spent building interest which makes Standard Repayment the cheapest plan as well. You can save even more money (and reduce the length of your repayment period) by making additional payments on the principal of your loan. Learn more.
If you can’t afford your current monthly payment but still want to pay your loans off quickly, Graduated Repayment is a possible alternative. It costs more than the Standard Plan but will have your debt paid off within ten years. Learn more.
“I want student loan forgiveness.”
In July 2023 the US Supreme Court ruled against the Biden-Harris one-time student loan debt relief plan.
That was disappointing news but there are several other loan forgiveness programs aimed at specific groups of borrowers. Some target public teachers, government employees, and certain non-profit workers. Others are aimed at borrowers whose school defrauded them or closed while they were enrolled.
A relatively small percentage of student loan borrowers qualify for forgiveness. That said, it doesn’t take long to see if you meet the requirements for one of the existing programs. Learn more.
“I want to research programs available to people with certain employers or living situations.”
There are many plans created to help specific groups of people. These include the temporary suspension of payments, partial loan forgiveness, and complete loan forgiveness.
- Explore options to pause payments based on unemployment, economic hardship, and other personal situations.
- Find loan forgiveness available to people who are employed by government or non-profit groups, were defrauded by their school, or meet other specific criteria.
“I want to combine multiple loans into one.”
Loan consolidation allows you to convert loans from multiple servicers into a single loan with a fixed interest rate. It can save you the inconvenience of making more than one monthly payment or dealing with multiple loan servicers.
Depending on the size of the new loan, you may be able to extend your repayment period and lower your monthly payment. Learn more about loan consolidation here.