Choose the right payment for your budget
Your student loans are designed to adjust to the changing reality of your personal finances. You can select a new payment plan if you qualify. Just talk to your lender.
Picking the right plan depends on your financial goals and your ability to pay.
Standard repayment is generally a 10-year term and 120 payments. If you want smaller monthly payments, graduated or extended repayment may be best for you.
Our Repayment calculator can compare each plan side-by-side so you can see the difference. Make it a habit to review your repayment plan every year to make sure it’s still a good fit for your financial situation.
See which repayment plan is the best fit for you:
- Standard: higher monthly payments, lower lifetime costs
- Graduated: gradually increasing payments over time, somewhat higher lifetime costs
- Extended: lower monthly payments over a longer time period, higher lifetime costs
Contact your lender to find out what plan is best for you. If you don’t know who your lender is, go to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), which is the central database for all federal student loan information.
Standard repayment
Standard repayment allows you to pay your loans over 10 years in equal monthly installments. Because you begin paying down the principal immediately, standard repayment costs you the least amount over the life of the loan. To see how much you can save, use our Repayment calculator.
Key features of standard repayment:
- Stable monthly payments ($50 minimum) until the loan is paid in full
- Maximum 10-year term for Stafford and PLUS loans, with a 3-year extension if a loan balance remains because of a variable interest rate
- Lowest lifetime costs
- Best for borrowers with stable, adequate earnings
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Graduated repayment
Graduated repayment is designed for those who have a low salary early in their repayment period, but anticipate future higher incomes. You start with lower monthly payments that increase over time.
Graduated repayment is a good compromise between standard repayment and the higher lifetime costs of extended repayment. To compare all three, use our Repayment calculator.
Key features of graduated repayment:
- Lower monthly payments that increase over time
- No payment is more than three times the lowest payment
- Payments must cover interest
- Maximum 10-year term for Stafford and PLUS loans, with a 3-year extension if a loan balance remains because of a variable interest rate
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Extended repayment
If you borrowed more than $30,000 in FFEL Program or Direct Loan Program loans—separately, not combined—you can lower your monthly payments by extending your payments for up to 25 years. While it does save money in the short term, extended repayment creates much higher lifetime costs.
To see how much more extended repayment costs, use our Repayment calculator.
Key features of extended repayment:
- Designed for borrowers with more than $30,000 in student loan debt in a single loan program (i.e., FFEL or Direct Loan)
- Lowers monthly payments by extending the loan terms up to 25 years
- Fixed or graduated payments
- Much higher lifetime costs—calculate how much
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