Repayment Options

My Situation

MOHELA offers a variety of options to manage the repayment of your loans including repayment plans and ways to lower your payment or provide temporary relief. To explore options that are available based on situations you may be facing visit My Situation.

Repayment Plans

Several repayment plans are available to help manage your student loan account. Each repayment plan has distinct requirements which may result in paying less interest over time or offer greater benefits such as loan forgiveness. If your circumstances don’t fit the repayment plans listed below, we encourage you to call us at 888.866.4352 to discuss other alternatives.

Plans based on the length of time in repayment:

• Standard (Level) Repayment

• Extended Repayment

• Graduated Repayment

Plans driven by income:

• Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE)

• Pay As You Earn (PAYE)

• Income-Based Repayment (IBR)

• Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR)

• Income-Sensitive Repayment

Estimate Your Payments

Change Repayment Plans

For Income-driven repayment plans:

Apply on StudentAid.gov to automatically retrieve last year’s income tax information from the IRS. Sign in using your Federal Student Aid ID and then select “Apply for Income-Driven Repayment.” Follow the instructions to submit your application online. You can create a FSA ID before completing the application.

If you are past due or missed your annual recertification, please contact us for assistance.

For changes to other repayment plans:

Our Customer Service Representatives can assist you with requests for changes to other repayment plans, some of which may be changed by calling 888.866.4352.

Repayment Plan Summary

Plans	Loan Programs	Loan Term	Eligibility	Payments	Advantages	Helpful Information
STANDARD REPAYMENT	Direct Loans & FFELP	10 Years (up to 30 years if consolidated)	You will be placed on this plan if you do not select another plan	Fixed monthly payments	This is the fastest and least expensive plan based on interest paid	This will be the plan you are placed on if you do not select another plan
GRADUATED REPAYMENT	Direct Loans & FFELP	10 Years (up to 30 years if consolidated)	Upon request	Payments start low, increase every 2 Years	Works well if you expect your income to increase over time	Increasing monthly payment amounts over time The amount due each month must cover your interest
EXTENDED REPAYMENT	Direct Loans & FFELP	Up to 25 Years	Must have more than $30,000 in FFELP or Direct Loans	Fixed or graduated payments	Lower monthly payments over a longer time frame	You will generally pay more interest on this plan due to the longer repayment term
INCOME-BASED REPAYMENT (IBR)	Direct Loans & FFELP1	25 Years (20 years for new borrowers as of 7/1/2014), any remaining balance may be forgiven	Must demonstrate need based on your total federal student loan debt, adjusted gross income and family size Your calculated payment must be less than what you would pay under the Standard (10-year) Repayment plan	Monthly payment generally set at 15% of discretionary income (10% for new borrowers as of 7/1/2014)	A reduced monthly payment amount. If you no longer qualify for a reduced monthly payment, your monthly payment will cap at the 10-year payment Interest subsidy may apply May also be used with the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program	Annual recertification of income and family size More information about Income Based repayment plans
PAY AS YOU EARN REPAYMENT (PAYE)	Direct Loans only1	20 Years, any remaining balance may be forgiven	As of July 1, 2024, borrowers that leave the PAYE Plan will not be allowed to re-enroll in the PAYE Plan. Must demonstrate need based on your total federal student loan debt, adjusted gross income and family size Your calculated payment must be less than what you would pay under the Standard (10-year) Repayment plan	Monthly payment generally set at 10% of discretionary income	A reduced monthly payment amount. If you no longer qualify for a reduced monthly payment, your monthly payment will cap at the 10-year payment May also be used with the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program	Annual recertification of income and family size More information about Pay As You Earn repayment plans
SAVING ON A VALUABLE EDUCATION (SAVE)	Direct Loans only1	20 years (undergraduate loans), 25 years (graduate or professional loans), any remaining balance may be forgiven.	Based on your adjusted gross income, family size and total federal student loan debt	Monthly payment generally set at 10% of discretionary income.	A reduced monthly payment amount. Interest subsidy may apply May also be used with the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program	Annual recertification of income and family size More information about Revised Pay As You Earn repayment plans
INCOME-CONTINGENT REPAYMENT (ICR)	Direct Loans only1	25 Years, any remaining balance may be forgiven	As of July 1, 2024, borrowers that leave the ICR Plan will not be allowed to re-enroll, unless they have a Direct Consolidation Loan disbursed on or after July 1, 2006, which repaid a Direct Parent PLUS or a Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program Parent PLUS loan. Based on your adjusted gross income, family size and total federal student loan debt	Monthly payments set at the lesser of 20% of discretionary income or a percentage (based on income) of payment on a Standard Plan with a 12-year repayment period	Interest subsidy may apply May also be used with the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program	Annual recertification of income and family size More information about Income contingent repayment plans
INCOME-SENSITIVE REPAYMENT	FFELP only	5 Years, then returns to Standard or Graduated	Based on your gross monthly income	Lowers payments for 12 months at a time	Payments are affordable based on your gross monthly income	Annual recertification of gross monthly income

¹ Additional eligibility requirements may apply.

Parent PLUS Loans do not qualify for IDR Plans. Borrowers with Parent PLUS loans may consolidate and request ICR.

If your consolidation loan was disbursed on or prior to 7/1/2006 and the consolidation loan includes Parent PLUS loans, your consolidation loan may not be eligible for IDR Plans.

FFELP loans owned by the Department of Education are eligible for the Income Sensitive Repayment plan.