How to Repay Your Loans
Repayment Estimator
Your loan servicer, the company that handles the billing and other services on your federal student loan, can help you choose a loan repayment plan that’s best for you. Before you contact your loan servicer to discuss repayment plans, use our Repayment Estimator to get an early look at what repayment plans you may be eligible for and to receive a comparison of estimated monthly payment amounts for all federal student loan repayment plans. This comparison is important because it will provide you with the lowest payment amount based on your individual circumstances. You may find that your payment will be lower under another repayment plan.
MedLoans Organizer and Calculator (MLOC)-Medicine Students
The MedLoans Organizer and Calculator (MLOC) was developed to assist medical students and residents with managing their education debt. The MLOC provides a secure location to organize and track student loans while also displaying possible repayment plans and costs based on the borrower’s student loan debt.
AAMC/ADEA Dental Loan Organizer and Calculator (DLOC) – Dentistry Students
The AAMC/ADEA Dental Loan Organizer and Calculator (DLOC) is offered through a partnership between the AAMC and ADEA. It’s free to currently enrolled dental students, graduates and residents.
Standard Repayment Plan
The Standard Repayment Plan is the basic repayment plan for loans from the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program and Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program.
Under this plan, your monthly payments are a fixed amount of at least $50 each month and made for up to 10 years for all loan types except Direct Consolidation Loans and FFEL Consolidation Loans.
Standard Repayment Plan Overview
Graduated Repayment Plan
The Graduated Repayment Plan starts with lower payments that increase every two years.
Under this plan, your monthly payments are a fixed amount for up to 10 years for all loan types except Direct Consolidation Loans and FFEL Consolidation Loans.
Income-Based Repayment (IBR) is a repayment plan for the major types of federal student loans that caps your required monthly payment at an amount intended to be affordable based on your income and family size.
As of March 26, 2025, the online IDR application is once again available for eligible borrowers to apply for the Income-Based Repayment (IBR), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plans. The online loan consolidation application is also available again.
All Stafford, PLUS, and Consolidation Loans made under either the Direct Loan or FFEL Program are eligible for repayment under IBR, EXCEPT loans that are currently in default, parent PLUS Loans (PLUS Loans that were made to parent borrowers), or Consolidation Loans that repaid parent PLUS Loans. The loans can be new or old, and for any type of education (under-graduate, graduate, professional, job training).
*Recent court rulings have impacted the Income Driven Repayment Plans. Please view the Q&A from the Department of Education for more information.
A federal court issued an injunction preventing the U.S. Department of Education from implementing the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan and parts of other income-driven repayment (IDR) plans.
As of March 26, 2025, the online IDR application is once again available for eligible borrowers to apply for the Income-Based Repayment (IBR), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plans. The online loan consolidation application is also available again.
Pay As You Earn is a repayment plan for eligible Direct Loans that is designed to limit your required monthly payment to an amount that is affordable based on your income and family size.
Only loans made under the Direct Loan Program are eligible for repayment under Pay As You Earn. Eligible loans are Direct Subsidized Loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans, Direct PLUS Loans made to graduate or professional students, and Direct Consolidation Loans that did not repay any PLUS loans that were made to parent borrowers. Loans that are currently in default, Direct PLUS Loans made to parents, Direct Consolidation Loans that repaid PLUS loans made to parents, and Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans are NOT eligible for repayment under Pay As You Earn.
For an official determination of your eligibility for Pay As You Earn, you must submit an application. To apply, submit an Income-Based (IBR)/Pay As You Earn/Income-Contingent (ICR) Repayment Plan Request and either
- a copy of your most recently filed federal income tax return or
- alternative documentation of your income, if you did not file a federal income tax return in the past two years or you've experienced a significant change in your income since you filed your most recent federal income tax return.
Apply now online using the electronic Pay As You Earn
NHSC SUD Workforce Loan Repayment Overview
- To combat the nation’s opioid crisis, HRSA launched the NHSC Substance Use Disorder Workforce Loan Repayment Program (SUD Workforce LRP).
- The most effective treatment for opioid addiction is a comprehensive approach that incorporates medication and behavioral health counseling.
- The program supports the recruitment and retention of health professionals needed in underserved areas to expand access to SUD treatment and prevent overdose deaths.
How to Apply
To apply for the National Health Service Corps SUD Workforce Loan Repayment Program (NHSC SUD Workforce LRP), you must understand and properly follow each of our requirements.
Before you Apply
On average, it takes three weeks to complete an application, including all required and supplemental documentation.
Be sure that the answers you provide in your application match your supporting documents. If they do not match, NHSC will reject your application.
You must submit a legible, complete online application—including all supporting documents—by the application deadline.
- www.lrp.nih.gov
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Division of Loan Repayment (DLR) offers qualified participants substantial assistance to repay educational loans. Undergraduate, graduate, medical, and other health professional school loans qualify for repayment.
- https://www.ihs.gov/loanrepayment/
The IHS Loan Repayment Program (LRP) can help dedicated health professionals like you chart a course for a long-lasting and successful health care career. The LRP funds IHS clinicians to repay their eligible health profession education loans — up to $40,000 — in exchange for an initial two-year service commitment to practice in health facilities serving American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
- Physicians (MD or DO); Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners; Certified Nurse Midwives; Mental Health Professionals, Dental Professionals, Registered Dental Hygienists; Pharmacists, Registered Nurses
- Professionals make a two-year commitment to practice full-time for an eligible sponsoring organization in a federally designated Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA).
- Who Can Apply:
Must be a U.S. citizen. Must be Kentucky licensed or certified to practice his/her profession. - Repayment/Scholarship terms:
Amount of repayment per year of service:Total funding limits for a two year commitment vary by profession, as follows: Physicians, Dentists, and Pharmacists: $80,000; PAs, NPs, and Behavioral Health Practitioners: $40,000; RNs and Registered Dental Hygienists: $20,000
How to Apply: http://ruralhealth.med.uky.edu/kentucky-state-loan-repayment-program
Contact person(s):
Name, title: Michael McGill, Program Coordinator
Agency name: Kentucky State Office of Rural Health
Address: 750 Morton Boulevard,
Hazard, KY 41701
Phone: (606) 439-3557
E-Mail: kslrp@uky.edu
The PSLF Program is intended to encourage individuals to enter and continue to work full-time in public service jobs such as, working at many hospitals, medical schools, and other health care facilities.. Under this program, borrowers may qualify for forgiveness of the remaining balance of their Direct Loans after they have made 120 qualifying payments on those loans while employed full time by certain public service employers.
However, the Federal Government will assess a 20% tax rate on the remaining balance before forgiveness.
PSLF Details:
Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Help Tool
studentaid.ed.gov - PSLF Buyback
AAMC Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
Public Service Loan Forgiveness: Questions and Answers for Federal Student Loan Borrowers
PSLF Calculator:
This is the only student loan repayment calculator we are able to find that provides
students with an estimate of how much might be forgiven when qualifying for the Public
Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
Note: It is not necessary to list all of your loans on this calculator for a quick computation. Instead, using your estimated future indebtedness and average weighted interest rate you calculated above, you can simply list this as one loan on the "organizer" page and then click on the "Medloans Calculator" tab to run the estimate.
Health professions faculty from disadvantaged backgrounds can receive up to a maximum of $40,000 towards repayment of their student loans in exchange for educating tomorrow's clinicians.
Individuals selected to participate in the program agree to serve on the faculty of an accredited health professions college or university for 2 years. The Government pays up to a maximum of $40,000 of the participant's student loans and provides funds to offset the tax burden.
Participants should also receive matching funds from their employing educational institution. More information is available at the HRSA web site.
- Health Professional Student Loans
- Health Professions Loan Repayment Program - Navy Medicine
- Healthcare - Air Force
- Army Medicine (AMEDD)
- IHS Loan Repayment Program - Indian Health Service
- NIH Loan Repayment Programs - National Institutes of Health
- Student Loan Repayment - Medical Schools and Students ... - AAMC
- Loan Forgiveness Programs - Public Service And Volunteering ...
- National Health Service Corps (NHSC) - Medical Schools and Students - Government Affairs (for Primary Care specialties)
Deferment temporarily puts your student loan payments on hold. If you meet certain criteria and you have loans through the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) or the Direct Loan program (DL), you may be eligible for a deferment.
Although several deferments are available for all federal student loan borrowers, some are only available based on loan type and oldest outstanding debt. If you're not sure if you qualify for a deferment, please contact your loan servicer.
Types of Deferments:
Graduate fellowship deferment
In-school deferment
Military deferment
PLUS loan post-enrollment deferment
Post active duty deferment
Rehabilitation training deferment
Summer bridge deferment
Unemployment deferment
If you don't meet the criteria for a deferment, you may qualify for forbearance.
In most cases, forbearance is granted solely at the discretion of your lender or servicer
and are only offered for limited amounts of time.
Forbearances are usually reserved for cases of financial hardship or illness.
Unlike a deferment, in forbearance both subsidized and unsubsidized portions of your
loan continue to accrue interest.
At the end of the forbearance period, the interest is capitalized (added to the principal
balance of the loan).
Forbearance can increases the amount you owe if you choose not to pay the interest
that is accruing. Contact your lender or servicer for more information.
For more information, visit https://studentaid.gov/h/manage-loans.
A federal loan made by the U.S. Department of Education that allows you to combine one or more federal student loans into one new loan. As a result of consolidation, you will have to make only one payment each month on your federal loans, and the amount of time you have to repay your loan will be extended.
- For all Direct Stafford and Graduate PLUS loans taken out by the student, if those loans are with one loan servicer (visit http://www.nslds.ed.gov/ and review the information listed as "ED Servicer" for each of your loans) the student should have one payment- no need to consolidate.
- Married couples can no longer consolidate their federal loans together.
- However, a married couple who file a joint tax return, both owe student loans balances and qualify can get a combined IBR payment plan. This is not the same thing as a spousal consolidation. Payment plans can be changed at any time, so if a couple in a combined IBR plan no longer qualify, each can each chose a different payment plan for his/her loans. In the situation where qualifying couples choose a combined IBR plan - the underlying loans remain open in the original borrower's name and received payments are prorated among all loans in the plan. "Spousal consolidation ended for applications received by a lender on or after July 1, 2006."
- Students can consolidate their loans in grace and while in repayment- not while in school.
General information about Direct Consolidation Loans is available on the StudentAid.gov website. Once your loans are combined into a Direct Consolidation Loan, they cannot
be removed. The loans that were consolidated are paid off and no longer exist.
To apply for a Direct Consolidation Loan, you must use the new process on Studentaid.gov
to apply for a Direct Consolidation Loan. Go to www.Studentaid.gov and sign in to begin the new consolidation process.
As of March 26, 2025, the online IDR application is once again available for eligible borrowers to apply for the Income-Based Repayment (IBR), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plans. The online loan consolidation application is also available again..
Students, parents, and borrowers are required to use an FSA ID, made up of a username and password, to access certain U.S. Department of Education websites. Your FSA ID is used to confirm your identity when accessing your financial aid information and electronically signing your federal student aid documents.
Your FSA ID is used to sign legally binding documents electronically. It has the same legal status as a written signature. Don't give your FSA ID to anyone—not even to someone helping you fill out the FAFSA. Sharing your FSA ID could put you at risk of identity