How to Prepare for Student Loan Payments

Loan Repayment3 minutes

Prepare for your upcoming student loan payments with these steps.

1

Get info about your payment.

Make sure your contact information is up to date in your profile on your loan servicer’s website and in your StudentAid.gov profile. Wrong contact information could make you miss important updates about upcoming payments.

Before your payment is due, your loan servicer(s) will send you a billing statement or other notice. This notice will include your

  • payment due date,
  • upcoming interest, and
  • payment amount.

Your payment will be due no sooner than 21 days after your servicer sends the billing statement.

Once your bill has been sent, you can log in to your loan servicer’s website to see your monthly payment info. Not sure who your servicer is? Log in to your Dashboard.

If you can’t log in, call us at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243) for loan servicer info.

Loan Servicer Contact
Edfinancial edfinancial.StudentAid.gov
MOHELA mohela.StudentAid.gov
Aidvantage aidvantage.StudentAid.gov
Nelnet nelnet.StudentAid.gov
ECSI efpls.ed.gov
Default Resolution Group myeddebt.ed.gov
CRI cri.StudentAid.gov

2

Explore affordable repayment plans.

We offer a variety of repayment plans, including income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. An IDR plan calculates your payment based on how much money you make and your family size. Under an IDR plan, payments may be as low as $0 per month.

We also offer the Extended and Graduated Repayment Plans. With the Extended Plan, your payments are spread out over a longer period of time making your payments lower. Under a graduated plan, payments are lower at first and then increase, usually every two years. You can enroll in a 10-year graduated or 25-year graduated plan.

Explore the different payment plans to select the monthly payment amount that works best for you.
Use Loan Simulator to find a repayment plan for your goals and budget.

Use Loan Simulator to explore your repayment options. When you pick a plan, consider factors like monthly payment amount and how much you’ll end up paying overall. Find info and tips on how to use Loan Simulator.

3

Take action if you want to lower your monthly payment.

Once you understand your repayment options and see your personalized results from Loan Simulator, you can choose the plan that works best for you. If you decide on an IDR plan, you can apply online. If you are applying for an extended or graduated plan, contact your servicer through their website.

Are you already on an IDR plan, but your income changed recently? You can update (recertify) your info to see if you can get a new, lower payment amount. Recertify by following these steps.

Consolidating your federal student loans may also lower your monthly payments. However, you should consider the pros and cons of consolidation to decide if consolidation is right for you.

Consolidating several loans into one Direct Consolidation Loan results in a single, weighted average fixed interest rate and could result in a lower monthly payment.
Consolidation combines your loans and may result in a lower monthly payment.

4

Enroll (or reenroll) in auto pay.

Auto pay is optional, but you’ll save 0.25% on your interest rate if you choose auto pay. On auto pay, you’ll get a reminder ahead of each withdrawal. Sign up for auto pay (for free!) on your servicer’s website.

5

As a last resort, contact your loan servicer to ask for short-term relief.

If you’ve applied for an IDR plan but you still can’t afford your payment, you can request to temporarily pause or lower your payments through short-term relief (deferment or forbearance). Before you make a request, use Loan Simulator to learn how this short-term relief affects your loans and loan payments. Then contact your loan servicer to request a deferment or forbearance.

Interest can still accrue (add up) during deferment or forbearance. Deferment and forbearance can also affect loan forgiveness options, such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness or IDR plan forgiveness.

Get updates and learn about forbearance types under ‘Student Loan Borrower Q&A’.

6

Understand what happens if you don’t repay your loan.

Normally, your loan becomes delinquent if you miss a payment. If your loan is delinquent for 90 days or more, your loan servicer will report the delinquency to the three major national credit bureaus. Delinquency will affect your credit score, making it harder to get credit.

After 270 days, your delinquent loan goes into default. When you default on a loan, here’s what happens:

  • You can lose your access to more student aid.
  • The default status will damage your credit score.
  • To pay off your defaulted loan, the government can take
    • your tax refund,
    • part of your Social Security benefits, or
    • up to 15% of your paycheck

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