Student Loans That Qualify for Income-Based Repayment Plans

 

If you have certain kinds of student loans, you may qualify for a repayment plan that sets payment amounts based on your current income.

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The following table, adapted from a Federal Student Aid Website PDF website, shows what types of federal student loans qualify for the most common income-driven repayment plans. Only federal loans can be repaid this way; private student loans are not eligible.

To use the table -- and to find out about other ways to reduce your student loan payments -- find your loan type on the list below. Then see How Do I Lower My Monthly Student Loan Payments? to learn more about each option. 

Loan Type

Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan

Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) Plan and the new Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan

Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Plan

Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan

Direct Subsidized Loans

Eligible

Eligible

Eligible

Eligible

Direct Unsubsidized Loans

Eligible

Eligible

Eligible

Eligible

Direct PLUS Loans made to graduate or professional students

Eligible

Eligible

Eligible

Eligible

Direct PLUS Loans made to parents

Not eligible

Not eligible

Not eligible

Eligible if consolidated*

Direct Consolidation Loans that did not repay any PLUS loans made to parents

Eligible

Eligible

Eligible

Eligible

Direct Consolidation Loans that repaid PLUS loans made to parents

Not eligible

Not eligible

Not eligible

Eligible

Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans (from the FFEL Program)

Eligible

Eligible if consolidated*

Eligible if consolidated*

Eligible if consolidated*

Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans (from the FFEL Program)

Eligible

Eligible if consolidated*

Eligible if consolidated*

Eligible if consolidated*

FFEL PLUS Loans made to graduate or professional students

Eligible

Eligible if consolidated*

Eligible if consolidated*

Eligible if consolidated*

FFEL PLUS Loans made to parents

Not eligible

Not eligible

Not eligible

Eligible if consolidated*

FFEL Consolidation Loans that did not repay any PLUS loans made to parents

Eligible

Eligible if consolidated*

Eligible if consolidated*

Eligible if consolidated*

FFEL Consolidation Loans that repaid PLUS loans made to parents

Not eligible

Not eligible

Not eligible

Eligible if consolidated*

Federal Perkins Loans

Eligible if consolidated*

Eligible if consolidated*

Eligible if consolidated*

Eligible if consolidated*

Chart by LegalConsumer.com, Info source: StudentAid.Gov PDF: "Repaying Your Loans"

*If a loan type is listed as “eligible if consolidated,” this means that if you consolidate that loan type into a Direct Consolidation Loan, you can then repay the consolidation loan under the income-driven plan. For example, only Direct Loans may be repaid under the Pay As You Earn and ICR plans. However, if you consolidate a FFEL Program Loan or Federal Perkins Loan into a Direct Consolidation Loan, you may then be able to repay the Direct Consolidation Loan under the Pay As You Earn or ICR Plan (depending on the type of loan that you consolidate). Note that consolidation is not the right choice for all borrowers or all loan types. In particular, you may lose certain loan benefits if you consolidate a Federal Perkins Loan. Find out more about loan consolidation.


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Jurisdictional relevance: US

Legal Consumer - ArizonaLaw. The content of this article pertains to all US states and counties.