New Income-Based Repayment Plan for Federal Student Loans

05/06/15

By UniversityParent.com Income-Based Repayment (IBR) is a new way to make your federal student loan payments more manageable. And if you’re a teacher or work in government or at a nonprofit (501(c)(3)) organization, you might qualify for a new type of public service loan forgiveness after 10 years of eligible payments and employment. Applications now available To apply for Income-Based Repayment, contact your lender directly. If you have Direct Loans from the U.S. Department of Education, you may visit the Department of Education’s website. If you do not know who is servicing your loan, check the National Student Loan Data System database. * You may not repay Direct PLUS Loans made to parent borrowers under the IBR Plan. For your Direct PLUS Loans made to parent borrowers, you must select a different repayment plan. * Until your request for the IBR Plan is reviewed and approved, your loan(s) will remain under your current repayment plan and you should continue paying your monthly due amount. * If you cannot afford your current monthly payment(s) while waiting to be notified of your IBR eligibility and payment amount, call 1-800-848-0979 or access http://www.dl.ed.gov for other options. * When we receive the requested information, we will calculate your new IBR monthly payment amount for your loan(s) and send you a Disclosure form that shows your new monthly payment amount. * You can change repayment plans anytime by calling 1-800-848-0979 or accessing http://www.dl.ed.gov. * If you are repaying under the IBR Plan and decide to change repayment plans, any unpaid accrued interest will be capitalized and you will be required to repay your Direct Loan(s) on the Standard Repayment Plan with a 10-year term (less any time already spent in repayment).