I’m about to give you a piece of tantalizing information. You may qualify to pay a lower monthly amount for your student loan, based on your income.
The Income Based Repayment is one of several repayment plan options for student loan borrowers under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program and the Federal Family Education Loan Program.
Eligibility is based on income and family size. If you qualify, your required monthly payment is capped and is less than you would pay monthly on a regular payment plan.
It’s exciting information, I know. I about jumped out of my seat at the idea of ditching my $320 monthly payment for a smaller, sleeker model. However, don’t make plans for that extra money just yet. There is a lot of fine print with this program.
For instance, eligible federal student loans that have already been consolidated with a private lender cannot be repaid under this program. That busted my entire eligibility bubble.
For complete details, visit www.studentaid.ed.govor www.ibrinfo.org.
To determine whether you are likely to qualify for the plan, and estimate your monthly payment, visit http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/IBRCalc.jsp.
To officially determine whether you qualify, contact your loan servicer directly. Don’t know who your loan servicer is? Visit the Department of Education’s National Student Loan Data System at www.nslds.ed.gov .