Choosing your payment plan depends on what your goals are and what you can afford. You have options for managing your student loan debt, no matter your situation. If you are struggling with payments, finding a different repayment plan may make your loan situation easier to manage.
Need help choosing a payment plan?
You can use the Department of Education’s free Repayment Calculator to compare plans and decide which one is right for you.
What are your goals for repaying your loans?
- I want to pay off my loans quickly and limit the amount of interest I pay.
- I want a lower monthly payment and more time to pay my student loans.
- I have FFEL loans and need to know my options.
- I have Perkins loans and need to know my options.
- I have Parent PLUS loans and need to know my options.
- I have private student loans and need to know my options.
I want to pay off my loans quickly and limit the amount of interest I pay
Consider the Standard or Tiered Standard Plan
If you want to pay off your student loans quickly, consider a standard plan. In the Standard plan, your payments are the same amount every month and are designed to pay off the loan within 10 years (or within 30 years for some Consolidation Loans). You will often pay the least amount of interest under the Standard plan, especially if you are on a 10-year Standard plan. The Standard plan is available for all FFEL borrowers and for those Direct Loan borrowers who only borrowed before July 2026.
If you borrow a federal student loan (or consolidate) on or after July 1, 2026, then you will not be eligible for the Standard Plan to repay your Direct loans. But you will be eligible for the new Tiered Standard plan. In the Tiered Standard plan, your payments are generally the same amount every month and are designed to pay off your loan within 10 to 25 years, depending on the amount that you owe. If you owe less than $25,000 in Direct loans, then your repayment period will be 10 years.
Consider making extra payments toward principal to repay faster while in the Standard or Tiered Standard plan. That way you can pay off your loans even faster and pay less interest in total.
Consider the RAP plan
Another new option is the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP), which is available for all Direct loans taken out for your own education. RAP is an Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan that bases your monthly payment on your income. Depending on your income and debt, you may pay off your loans more quickly or more slowly in RAP than under the standard plans. You can use the Repayment Calculator to estimate how long it may take you to pay off your loans in RAP and compare it to the standard plan that you are eligible for. RAP also provides interest subsidies and small principal reductions to borrowers in some situations, which can help limit the amount of interest paid. Making extra payments in RAP is possible but can complicate your eligibility for interest subsidies and principal reductions. For more information on RAP, see here.
Sign up for auto pay to get a lower interest rate
Another way to reduce the amount you pay on your loans is to sign up for automatic payments to come out of your bank account. This is called “auto pay.” If you have Direct Loans, you will generally get a 0.25% interest rate reduction while you participate in auto pay. (Borrowers with Direct loans taken out after July 2012 can temporarily get a bigger 1% interest rate reduction between July 2026 and June 2028 by signing up for auto pay before September 30, 2026.)
If you work for the government or a nonprofit, consider an Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan, as you may be eligible to have your loans forgiven after 10 years of payments through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.
I want a lower monthly payment and more time to pay my student loans
Consider an Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Plan
If you can’t afford your monthly payment or need more time to repay your loans, consider an Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan. With an IDR plan, your payments are based on your income and family size. Your payments could be as low as $0 per month if you took out all of your loans before July 2026, or as low as $10 per month if you took out a loan or consolidated after July 1, 2026.
On an IDR plan, you will be eligible to have any remaining balance on your loans canceled after 20 to 30 years of payments. If you work for the government or most nonprofits and make payments in an IDR plan you may be able to have your loans canceled after 10 years of qualifying payments under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. For more on IDR plans, visit our Income-Driven Repayment page.
Consider an Extended plan or Tiered Standard plan
Another option if you have larger loan amounts, or if you have Parent PLUS loans that are not eligible for IDR, is to look at fixed payment plans, such as the Extended plan or Tiered Standard plan, that may stretch your repayment out over a longer repayment period. But be aware that in all fixed payment plans, your monthly payment will be based on your loan amount and will never be less than $50.
If you consolidate or take out a new loan after July 1, 2026, the Tiered Standard plan offers repayment periods of up to 25 years, depending on the amount of Direct loans you owe.
If you have FFEL loans or took out all your loans before July 2026, you might want to consider the Extended plan. The extended plan generally spreads payments over 25 years and is available to borrowers with more than $30,000 in Direct or FFEL loans, including Parent PLUS loans. Another option is to consolidate your FFEL or Direct loans after July 1, 2026, at which point you will be eligible for the Tiered Standard plan. This may result in a longer repayment period and lower monthly payments than in the old Standard plan. But beware, consolidating or taking out a new loan will also make you ineligible for older repayment plans, including IBR, and may have other downsides. See our page on consolidating loans for more on the pros and cons of consolidation.
I have FFEL loans and need to know my options
FFEL program loans stopped being made in 2010. If you have loans from 2010 or earlier, you may still have them. FFEL loans are eligible for some of the same types of payment plans as Direct Loans, but not all. FFEL Loans are not eligible for the new RAP plan or Tiered Standard plan.
If you have a FFEL loan for your own education, you are usually eligible for the following plans:
- the Income-Based Repayment (an IDR plan),
- the Standard plan,
- the Extended or Graduated plans.
If you have both FFEL and Direct Loans, you can repay your FFEL loans in a different plan from the Direct Loans.
You can also consolidate FFEL Loans for your own education into a Direct Consolidation Loan to qualify for the Tiered Standard Plan and RAP, but there may be downsides to consolidation. See our page on consolidating loans for more information
I have Perkins loans and need to know my options
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 learn about your payment plan options. You can also consolidate your Perkins Loan into a Direct Consolidation Loan to qualify for different repayment plans, but there may be downsides to consolidation. See our page on consolidating loans for more information
I have Parent PLUS loans and need to know my options
Parent PLUS borrowers must generally repay their loans in one of the fixed plans, such as the Standard and Extended Plans, or the Tiered Standard plan. The income-driven repayment (IDR) plans are generally not available to Parent PLUS borrowers unless they first consolidate the Parent PLUS Loan into a Direct Consolidation Loan before July 1, 2026, and sign up for an IDR plan before July 1, 2028. Generally, you must first enroll the Direct Consolidation loan that repaid a Parent PLUS loan in ICR, and then after making at least one payment in ICR you can switch to IBR.
If you take out a loan or consolidate after July 1, 2026, your only repayment option for your Parent PLUS loans (and consolidation loans that repaid a Parent PLUS loan) is the Tiered Standard Plan. You can repay any loans for your own education in a separate plan from your Parent PLUS loans. For more on IDR plans, visit our Income-Driven Repayment page.
I have private student loans and need to know my options
If you have private student loans, you will have to contact your loan servicer for your repayment options. These options may be very limited. See our page on Repaying Private Student Loans for more information.
