Students who graduate, drop below half-time enrollment or who stop attending college will initiate repayment on any loans they may have borrowed. Students who borrowed federal loans are required to complete an exit counseling. The counseling takes approximately 30 minutes and covers what you need to know about federal loan repayment.
IDR plans are designed to make your student loan debt more manageable by giving you a monthly payment based on your income and family size. If your outstanding federal student loan debt represents a significant portion of your annual income, an IDR plan might be right for you.
Income-driven repayment plans can often provide a lower monthly payment. If you are already enrolled in an IDR plan, you must recertify your income each year to remain in the plan. Use the application at Federal Student Aid to apply for an IDR plan, or to recertify your plan. IDR plans must be recertified annually.
A loan servicer is a company that the Department of Education assigns to handle the billing and other services on your federal student loan on their behalf, at no cost to you. Your loan servicer will work with you on repayment options (such as income-driven repayment plans and loan consolidation) and will assist you with other tasks related to your federal student loans.
To find out who your loan servicer is,
If you are employed by a U.S. federal, state, local or tribal government or nonprofit organization, you might be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. The PSLF Program forgives the remaining balance on your Direct Loans after you have made 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time for a qualifying employer.
Information on how to qualify and apply for PSLF is available on the Federal Student Aid website.
Under the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program, if you teach full time for five complete and consecutive academic years in a low-income school or educational service agency and meet other qualifications, you may be eligible for forgiveness of up to $17,500 on your Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans and your Subsidized and Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans.
If you have a Direct Consolidation Loan or a Federal Consolidation Loan, you may be eligible for forgiveness of the outstanding portion of the consolidation loan that repaid an eligible Direct Subsidized Loan, Direct Unsubsidized Loan, Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan or Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan.
More information is available on the Federal Student Aid website.
On Aug. 24, 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a Student Debt Relief Plan that includes one-time student loan debt relief for student loan borrowers.
Any additional information is available on the Federal Student Aid's website.
Students who borrowed from a private lender (bank, credit union, private financial institution) should contact their lender for information regarding repayment.
