Federal Direct Loan Repayment Options

Federal Direct Loans (DL) have the most options for repayment. Below is a summary of these plans. You can see what your payment would be under each plan by using this calculator. The feds also have a calculator which you can find here.

Repayment Plan	Eligible Loan Types	How Payment is Determined	Lowest Payment Allowed	Maximum Term	Loan Forgiveness At End of Term	Count for Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Standard Plan	Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford Loans Direct Graduate PLUS Loans Direct Parent PLUS Loans Direct Consolidation Loans	Same payment every month based on the balance of the loan when you enter repayment	$50	10 years except for Consolidation loans which may have terms as long as 30 years	No	Yes, provided the term is no longer than 10 years
Graduated Repayment	Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford Loans Direct Graduate PLUS Loans Direct Parent PLUS Loans Direct Consolidation Loans	Payments generally start as interest only for two years, then gradually increase every two years after that	$30	10 years except for Consolidation loans which may have terms as long as 30 years	No	No, unless payment is at least as much as that of a ten year plan
Extended Repayment and Extended Graduated Repayment	You must have more than $30K in total DL Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford Loans Direct Graduate PLUS Loans Direct Parent PLUS Loans Direct Consolidation Loans You must have no loans made earlier than 10/7/1998 to qualify	Extended repayment has the same payment for the full term of the loan Extended graduated repayment starts as interest only and gradually increases every two years	$50	25 Years	No	No, unless payment is at least as much as that of a ten year plan
Consolidation Loan Standard Plan	Direct Consolidation Loans	Same payment every month based on the balance of the loan when you enter repayment	$50	Between 10-30 years depending on your balance	No	No, unless payment is at least as much as that of a ten year plan
Income-Contingent Repayment	Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford Loans Direct Graduate PLUS Loans Direct Parent PLUS Loans (if consolidated) Direct Consolidation Loans	The lesser of: 20% of your discretionary income or what your payment would be under a 12 year term adjusted accordingly to your income	$0	25 years	Yes	Yes Note this is the only income-driven repayment plan available for Parent PLUS loans. You must consolidate the Parent PLUS loans to gain access to ICR
Income-Based Repayment	Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford Loans Direct Graduate PLUS Loans Direct Consolidation Loans that do not contain Parent PLUS	15% of discretionary income Must reapply annually	$0	25 years	Yes	Yes
Pay As You Earn (PAYE)	Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford Loans Direct Graduate PLUS Loans Direct Consolidation Loans that do not contain Parent PLUS To qualify you must have no loans before October 1, 2007 and at least one disbursement made on or after October 1, 2011	10% of discretionary income Must reapply annually	$0	20 years	Yes	Yes
“New” Income-Based Repayment	Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford Loans Direct Graduate PLUS Loans Direct Consolidation Loans that do not contain Parent PLUS To qualify you must have no loans before July 1, 2014	10% of discretionary income Must reapply annually	$0	20 years	Yes	Yes
Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE)	Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford Loans Direct Graduate PLUS Loans Direct Consolidation Loans that do not contain Parent PLUS	10% of discretionary income Must reapply annually	$0	20 Years if you only have undergraduate loans 25 Years if you have both undergraduate and graduate loans	Yes	Yes