Your Payments
Repayment of most subsidized and unsubsidized Direct Loans begins
six months after you have graduated, or are no longer enrolled in school at
least half time. The period between those events and repaying your loan is
a six-month grace period.
Borrowers of Parent PLUS and Grad PLUS loans
may request deferment of repayment while either the borrower or the student
for whom the loan was borrowed is enrolled at least half time and for six
months thereafter.
Your loan servicer will contact you before your
first loan payment is due. In addition, you will be provided with a choice
of repayment plans, including: standard, graduated, extended, income-based
repayment (IBR), pay-as-you-earn (PAYE), revised pay as you earn (REPAYE),
income-contingent repayment (ICR) and an income-sensitive repayment plan.
- Standard
- Graduated
- Extended
- Income-based repayment (IBR)
- Pay-as-you-earn (PAYE)
- Revised pay-as-you-earn (REPAYE)*
- Income-contingent repayment (ICR)
- Income-sensitive repayment
*As of summer 2023, REPAYE is being phased out and will be replaced
with the Saving for a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan.
If
you do not notify your loan servicer of your selected repayment plan, or do
not provide the required documentation, your loan will be set up on a standard
repayment schedule.
It is very important that you keep the loan servicer
of your loan informed of your current address and contact information so that
you will receive the repayment information.
The repayment schedule
will reflect the total balance of your loan, your interest rate, the amount
and due dates of your monthly payments based either on a standard repayment
plan or the repayment plan you selected, and the address to which you must
send your payments. Carefully review all the information on your repayment
schedule to make sure that it is correct. If the information is not accurate,
or you do not receive this document, contact your loan servicer.
You
can learn about your federal student loan, including the total amount of your
loans, through StudentAid.gov.
It is in your best interest to
pay your student loans in a timely manner.