Standard Repayment Plan

When repaying a Direct Consolidation Loan, you may choose from multiple repayment plans with various term selections.

Standard Repayment Plan:

You will pay a fixed amount each month until your loan(s) are paid in full. Your monthly payments will be at least $50 for up to 10 to 30 years, based on your total education indebtedness.

Graduated Repayment Plan:

Your minimum payment amount will be at least equal to the amount of interest accrued monthly. Your payments start out low, and then increase every two years for up to 10 to 30 years, based on your total education indebtedness

Extended Repayment Plan:

To be eligible, your Direct Loan balance must be greater than $30,000 and you will have up to 25 years to repay your loan(s). You have two payment options:

• Fixed Monthly Payment Option -You will pay a fixed amount each month until your loans are paid in full. Your monthly payments will be at least $50.
• Graduated Monthly Payment Option – Your minimum payment amount will be at least $50 or the amount of interest accrued monthly, whichever is greater. Your payments start out low, and then increase every two years.

Income Contingent Repayment Plan (ICR):

Monthly payments that are based on annual income, Direct Loan balance and family size, and are spread over a term of up to 25 years.

Income-Based Repayment Plan (IBR):

Monthly payments that are based on annual income and family size, and spread over a term of up to 25 years. You must be experiencing a partial financial hardship to initially select this plan and once you select this plan you cannot change to any other plan except the Standard Plan.

If you consolidate more than one loan type (subsidized, unsubsidized and PLUS) you will have one Direct Consolidation Loan with up to two parts: Direct Subsidized and Direct Unsubsidized (which includes PLUS) Consolidation Loans. Even with up to two parts of each Direct Consolidation Loan, you make only one payment each month.

If (1) you have not chosen a repayment plan, (2) you are not required to pay using ICR, and (3) we determine that you currently have other active Direct Loans, we may assign your new Direct Consolidation Loan(s) to the same repayment plan as your active loan(s). If you do not currently have active Direct Loan(s), we may assign your new Direct Consolidation Loan(s) to the Consolidation Standard Repayment Plan. You can change at a later date to other plans for which you may be eligible.

Standard Repayment Plan

Under this plan, you will pay a fixed amount of at least $50 each month for up to 10 to 30 years, based on your total education indebtedness. This plan may result in lower total interest paid when compared to repayment under one of the graduated plans.(See Example A and the Standard and Graduated Repayment Plan Repayment Periods Table)

Graduated Repayment Plan

Under this plan, you will pay a minimum payment amount at least equal to the amount of interest accrued monthly for up to 10 to 30 years, based on your total education indebtedness. Your payments start out low, and then increase every two years. Generally, the amount you will repay over the term of your loan will be higher under the Graduated Repayment Plan than under the Standard Repayment Plan. This plan may be beneficial if your income is low now but is likely to steadily increase. (See Example B and the Standard and Graduated Repayment Plan Repayment Periods Table)

Extended Repayment Plan

To qualify for this plan, your Direct Loan balance (your new Direct Consolidation Loan Amount plus other Direct Loans) must be greater than $30,000. Your plan options are:
Fixed Monthly Payment Option – Under this plan, you will pay a fixed amount of at least $50 each month for up to 25 years. Repayment under this plan will result in lower total interest paid when compared to graduated plans with similar terms. (See Example C and the Extended Repayment Plan Repayment Periods Table)

Graduated Monthly Payment Option – Under this plan, you will pay a minimum payment amount of at least $50 or the amount of interest accrued monthly, whichever is greater, for up to 25 years. Your payments start out low and then increase every two years.

Repayment under this plan may provide lower initial monthly payments, although the total interest paid may be greater when compared to plans with similar terms with fixed payments. This plan may be beneficial if your income is low now but is likely to steadily increase. (See Example D and the Extended Repayment Plan Repayment Periods Table)

**Extended repayment terms are available to Direct Loan borrowers with no outstanding principal or interest balances as of October 7, 1998 and with more than $30,000 in Direct Loans.

Income Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan

The ICR Plan gives you the flexibility to meet your obligations without causing you financial hardship. Monthly payments are based on annual Adjusted Gross Incomes (AGI), loan balance and family sizes. Income is obtained from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or from an ICR Plan & IBR Plan Alternative Documentation of Income Form (discussed below) submitted by you. (See Example E)

To participate in the ICR Plan, you (and if married, your spouse) must sign the ICR Plan & IBR Plan Consent to Disclosure of Tax Information Form. This authorizes the IRS to release borrowers’ income information to the Department of Education to calculate monthly payments. Monthly payments are adjusted annually to reflect inflation, family size and income.

Monthly payment amounts for some borrowers may not be enough to cover the interest accruing on their loans. This situation is referred to as negative amortization. In such cases, the unpaid interest is capitalized and added to the principal balance once per year. The amount added to the principal balance will never exceed 10 percent of the original Direct Consolidation Loan amount. Once this capitalization limit has been reached, interest continues to accrue but is not capitalized. The capitalization limit does not apply to interest that accrues during deferment or forbearance.

Under this plan, it is possible you will not make payments large enough to pay off your loans in 25 years. If loans are not fully repaid after 25 years of repayment, any unpaid amount will be forgiven. The maximum 25-year repayment period may include prior periods of repayment under certain other repayment plans, and certain periods of economic hardship deferment. The forgiven amount may be considered taxable income.

Alternative Documentation of Income

Alternative documentation of income is required for Direct Consolidation Loan borrowers if their underlying loans were in the first or second year of repayment when they were consolidated. Alternative documentation includes pay stubs, canceled checks, or, if these are unavailable, signed statements explaining income resources.

Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan

The IBR Plan gives you the flexibility to meet your obligations without causing you financial hardship. Monthly payments are based on annual Adjusted Gross Incomes (AGI), family size, and you must be experiencing a partial financial hardship to initially select this plan. Income is obtained from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or from an ICR Plan & IBR Plan Alternative Documentation of Income Form (discussed below) submitted by you. (See Example F)

To participate in the IBR Plan, you (and if married and file a joint federal income tax return, your spouse) must sign the ICR Plan & IBR Plan Consent to Disclosure of Tax Information Form. This authorizes the IRS to release borrowers’ income information to the Department of Education to calculate monthly payments. Monthly payments are adjusted annually to reflect inflation, family size and partial financial hardship.

Monthly payment amounts for some borrowers may not be enough to cover the interest accruing on their loans. This situation is referred to as negative amortization. If your payment does not cover all of the interest accumulating monthly on your Direct Subsidized Loans or Direct Subsidized Consolidation Loans, you will not be charged the remaining portion of the interest on those loans for a period not to exceed three consecutive years from the time you begin repayment under the IBR Plan.

Under this plan, it is possible you will not make payments large enough to pay off your loans in 25 years. If loans are not fully repaid after 25 years of repayment, any unpaid amount will be forgiven. The maximum 25-year repayment period may include prior periods of repayment under certain other repayment plans, and certain periods of economic hardship deferment. The forgiven amount may be considered taxable income.

NOTE: The IBR Plan is not available for parent Direct PLUS Loans, Direct PLUS Consolidation Loans, or Direct Consolidation Loans that repaid parent Direct PLUS Loans or Federal Family Education Loan Program PLUS Loans made to parent borrowers. If you choose to include any ineligible loans, the resulting new Consolidation Loan cannot be repaid under the IBR Plan.

Alternative Documentation of Income

It is recommended that you provide Alternative Documentation of Income with your consolidation application. If you submit the income information with the application and we determine you are qualified for a partial financial hardship, you may be able to start repaying your new consolidation loan under the IBR Plan immediately. Otherwise, Direct Loan Servicing will request that you submit your income information and, until it is received, your initial monthly payment amounts will be based on the Standard repayment plan. Alternative documentation includes pay stubs, canceled checks, or, if these are unavailable, signed statements explaining income resources.