How to Pay Federal Student Loans with the Income Based Repayment (IBR) Program
The Income-Based Repayment program caps the required monthly payment for federal student loans at an affordable amount based on income and family size. The program applies to all federal loans except those that are in default, Parent PLUS loans or any consolidation loans to repay Parent PLUS loans. The loans can be for educational purposes including undergraduate, graduate, professional and job training. The application process is easy.
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Things You'll Need
- Estimated qualifying student loan debt amount
- Total adjusted gross income
- Interest rate for student loans
- State of residence
- Family size
Instructions
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Determine whether your loan is listed as an eligible loan under the income-based repayment program. Eligible loans are those made under the Direct Loan or FFEL programs.
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Calculate your total amount of student loan debt. If you do not have all your records, use the online database at studentaid.ed.gov to pull up all of the information on your loans, whether they are consolidated, defaulted or in repayment. The database will tell you the total of all of your federal student loans. If you don't have the exact total for your student loans, estimate them.
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Use the income-based online calculator to figure out what your payment would be or if you qualify for the Income-Based Repayment program. The Department of Education online calculator is available at studentaid.ed.gov. Input the five pieces of necessary information -- your total adjusted gross income, estimated amount of qualifying student loans, the interest rate (which is provided in the form), state of residence and family size.
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Call your loan holder to fill out its official application if you qualify. Call each company that services your student loans because you'll have to fill out an application for each one of them since all of your loans are separate.
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Tips & Warnings
If you are not sure whether or not you want to use the income-based repayment program then you can apply for a forbearance or an economic hardship deferment.
Don't jump into any decision without considering all of your options.
Before calling your student loan servicer write down any questions that you have so you can make a fully informed decision. Just like signing the promissory note to pay your student loans when you took them out was a big step, so is this plan.
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