There are several payment plan options available for federal student loan borrowers. When you leave school, after your grace period ends, you will automatically be placed in a repayment plan. If you only borrowed loans before July 1, 2026, you will be placed in the Standard repayment plan unless you contact your loan servicer to sign up for a different plan. If you borrowed any loan or consolidated any loan after July 1, 2026, your Direct loans will automatically be placed in the new Tiered Standard Plan. But you can change to a different plan that might work better for you.
The best plan for you will depend on your goals and financial circumstances. Most people are best off with either a standard plan or an Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan.
Standard & Tiered Standard Plans
In both of the standard plans, your payments are generally the same every month, and are set to pay off your loans in full within a set number of years. The number of years varies between 10 and 30 depending on the plan and how much you owe. Which standard plan you are eligible for depends on your type of loan and when you borrowed. FFEL loans are only eligible for the Standard plan. For Direct loans, borrowers who only took out loans before July 2026 are eligible for the Standard plan, and borrowers who took out at least one new loan (or consolidated) on or after July 1, 2026 are eligible for the new Tiered Standard plan.
Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Plans
With an Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan, your payments are generally set based on your income and family size every year, and may be more affordable than payments in a standard plan. With an IDR plan, any remaining balance on your loans will be canceled after 20 to 30 years of qualifying payments if you haven’t already paid off the loan. The number of years until cancellation depends on the plan you’re enrolled in and when you borrowed. There are several IDR plans, and which plans you are available for depends on when you borrowed and what type of loans you have. For more information about IDR plans, visit our page on Income-Driven Repayment.
Perkins Loans: Perkins Loans are not eligible for the same types of payment plans as other federal student loans. If you have a Perkins Loan, contact your loan holder (usually the school you attended) to find out what your payment plan options are. If you have a Perkins Loan and want to repay it using an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan, you can apply to consolidate the Perkins loan and then repay using an IDR plan. For more information, see our page on IDR.
Parent PLUS Borrowers: Parent PLUS Loans are eligible for almost all of the same repayment plans as Direct, Graduate PLUS, and FFEL Loans, with one big exception: The income-driven repayment plans are not generally available to Parent PLUS borrowers unless they first consolidated the Parent PLUS Loan into a Direct Consolidation Loan before July 1, 2026, AND enroll the consolidation loan in an IDR plan before July 1, 2028. For more information, see our page on IDR.
Which payment plans am I eligible for?
As reflected in the tables below, the payment plans available to you will depend on when you borrowed and what types of loans you have.
For more help deciding which plan is right for you, visit our page on choosing a repayment plan.
Payment plans if you only have loans issued or consolidated before July 1, 2026
Borrowers who take out all of their federal student loans before July 1, 2026 are eligible for several repayment options, including the Standard plan, several IDR plans, and the less popular Graduated and Extended plans. These are also the options for all FFEL loans (but FFEL loans are only eligible for one IDR plan, Income-Based Repayment).
Standard Repayment
- Borrowers who took out all of their loans before July 2026 are automatically placed in this plan unless they choose another plan.
- Payments are a fixed amount that is designed to pay off the loan within a set number of years (10 years for most people, and 10 to 30 years for some Consolidation Loans).
- You may pay less in total over time than under other plans, but your initial monthly payments will probably be the highest under this plan.
- If you work in public service and are looking to get your loans forgiven after 10 years through PSLF, this might not be the best plan for you.
- You can always make extra payments to pay down your loans faster and reduce the amount of interest you pay.
Graduated Repayment
- You have to sign up for this plan by contacting your loan servicer.
- Payments are lower at first and then increase every two years to pay your loans off within 10 years (up to 30 years for Consolidation Loans).
- You’ll pay more in total over time on this plan than under a Standard Repayment plan.
- This plan is not a good option if you’re hoping to have your loans canceled under PSLF or IDR loan cancellation because time in this plan will not count towards cancellation in either program. It is also risky unless you are confident you will be able to pay more on your loans every two years.
Income-Driven Repayment
- There are several IDR plans.
- All Direct Loans and FFEL Loans are eligible for at least one IDR plan, except for Parent PLUS Loans. Parent Plus Loans are only eligible for an IDR plan if they are first consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan by July 1, 2026, and enrolled in an IDR plan by July 1, 2028.
- Your payments are generally based on your income, family size, and which plan you enroll in. Payments can be as low as $0. You usually need to recertify your income each year, and your payments may change based on changes in your income and family size.
- After 20-30 years of payments on an IDR plan, any amount you still owe should be automatically canceled.
- This is the best option if you’re seeking PSLF cancellation or an affordable monthly payment that is based on your income.
Extended Repayment
- You have to sign up for this plan by contacting your loan servicer.
- Generally only borrowers who owe more than $30,000 in Direct or FFEL Loans and took out all of their loans prior to July 1, 2026 are eligible for this plan.
- Payments may be the same amount each month for the entire length of the loan (fixed), or may increase gradually over time (graduated), to make sure that your loans are paid off within an extended period (typically 25 years).
- Your monthly payments will be lower than under a Standard or Graduated plan, but you will pay for more years.
- You’ll pay more over time than under a Standard or Graduated plan.
- This is not a good option if you’re hoping to have your loans canceled under PSLF or IDR loan cancellation.
Payment plans if you have any loans issued or consolidated after July 1, 2026
Borrowers who take out even one federal student loan, or consolidate existing loans, on or after July 1, 2026 will only have two options to repay all of their Direct Loans (including any Direct Loans that they took out before July 2026).
The two options are:
- the Tiered Standard plan, and
- the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP), which is an IDR plan.
FFEL loans are not eligible for these new plans, and must be repaid separately under the pre-July 2026 options described above.
Tiered Standard Plan
- If you take out any loans after July 1, 2026, you are automatically placed in this plan for your Direct loans unless you choose another plan.
- Payments are a fixed amount that is designed to pay off your loan within a set number of years (between 10 and 25 years, depending on your total amount of Direct loans when you enter the plan).
- This plan does not count towards Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
- You can always make extra payments to pay down your loans faster and reduce the amount of interest you pay.
More Information About Tiered Standard Plan
Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP)
- RAP is the only income-driven repayment option available for borrowers who take out a loan (or consolidate) on or after July 1, 2026 to repay their Direct Loans.
- Your payments are based on your income and number of dependents.
- Payments can be as low as $10 per month.
- You usually need to recertify your income each year, and your payments may change based on changes in your income and number of dependents.
- If your on-time monthly payment is less than the amount of interest you would be charged that month, or reduces your principal by less than $50, you will qualify for an interest or principal subsidy that will reduce the total amount you pay over time.
- After 30 years of payments, any amount you still owe should be automatically canceled.
- This is the best option if you’re seeking PSLF cancellation or a monthly payment that is based on your income.
