The Financially Literate College Student

Before you borrow please read this. If you have already borrowed on a student loan pay particular attention to this Q&A as it will provide valuable information and hopefully keep you out of any legal issue’s concerning your student loan. This Q&A will help answer most of your questions and give you resources to assist you while in school, during a leave of absence/withdrawal, and after completion of your program.

We strongly encourage borrowers to carefully weigh the need for loans and to borrow only what is actually needed. We encourage you to estimate and plan your repayment obligations prior to borrowing. Borrowing in excess of what is actually needed means you must repay more at a later date. Your monthly payments will be higher and you may be paying over a longer period of time due to the interest that accrues on your loans.

For federal student and parent loans, borrowers should be aware of the repayment options that are available. In addition, there are a number of deferment or forbearance provisions available once the loan is in repayment. For some qualifying majors and professions, such as teaching, federal and state loan cancellation provisions can also be beneficial.

Click here For estimate, repayment, deferment and forbearance options.

Click here For Loan Forgiveness Program Information.

Remember, loans must be repaid even if you did not complete your program and/or degree.

To keep track of your student loans or to contact your loan servicer for repayment, log onto to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) at www.nslds.ed.gov or call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243; TTY 1-800-730-8913). The PIN number that you used as your electronic signature for the FAFSA can also be used to gain access to NSLDS.

This website will not only show you all of the federal and private loans you borrowed, but also who the servicer is for your loan(s). The servicer is the entity you will be corresponding with to coordinate repayment.

To see a list of Federal Student Aid servicers for the Direct Loan Program and for FFEL Program Loans purchased by the U.S. Department of Education, go to the Loan Servicer page.

If you have borrowed loans in the past through the FFEL Program (i.e. a federal loan serviced by Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank, etc.) these loans have most likely been sold to a third party processor. We cannot stress enough how important it is to know your loan servicer. Please refer to “Understanding the PUT Program” under the loan consolidation section.

If you are expecting to borrow a Federal Stafford or Federal PLUS Loan for this coming year and also have a Federal Family Educational Loan, Stafford or PLUS Loans from prior years, you will have at least two lenders to repay when you graduate: your selected private lender and the federal government.

The Direct Lending Consolidation program offers a way for you to combine both loans into one consolidation loan with one point of repayment. This loan consolidation program will be available to you once you graduate and begin thinking about repayment.

There are advantages and disadvantages to loan consolidation and we recommend that you research this option carefully before proceeding. If you have questions about whether or not consolidation is right for you, please contact the Direct Loan Consolidation Loan Information Center at www.loanconsolidation.ed.gov.

To qualify for a Direct Consolidation Loan, borrowers must have at least one Direct Loan or Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) that is in grace, repayment, deferment or default status. Loans that are in an in-school status cannot be included in a Direct Consolidation Loan.

Since 2008 Stafford lenders have sold some of their loans to the Department of Education in an attempt to build liquidity in the market and provide more loans to students. This is called the Loan Purchase Commitment (PUT) Program.

As a result, continuing students may have already received communication from the Department of Education explaining the purchase. These loans are not considered Direct Loans but continue to be part of the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP).

It is important to note that loans borrowed in the future may not have the servicer as loans you have borrowed already. This means that when you begin to make payments on your loans after graduation you may be making multiple payments to multiple entities.

Your loan servicer will provide information about repayment and will notify you of the date your loan repayment begins. It is very important that you make your full loan payment on time either monthly (which is usually when you’ll pay) or according to your repayment schedule.

If you don’t, you could end up in default, which has serious consequences (see What is Loan Default?). Student loans are real loans—just as real as car loans or mortgages. You have to pay back your student loans.

Can you repay your loans while in school? Yes! Contact your loan servicer through www.nslds.ed.gov.

After borrowers graduate, leave school, or drop below half-time enrollment, loans that were made for that period of study have several months before payments are due. This is called the “grace period”.

Grace periods extends to 6 months after borrowers leave school or ceases to be enrolled in at least half time enrollment for 6 months. Grace periods can also extend up to 12 months; however, you must contact your loan servicer directly.

During the grace period, no interest accrues on subsidized loans. Interest accrues on unsubsidized loans during grace periods, and this interest is capitalized when borrowers enter repayment.

Borrower repayment period begins the day after their loan grace period ends. First payment will be due within 60 days after the repayment period begin.

Each loan has only one grace period. If borrowers return to school after the grace period has expired, the borrower qualifies for deferment while borrowers are enrolled but return to repayment after borrower leave school. There is no additional grace period.

You are able to make payments on your student loan while you are still enrolled. If you have unsubsidized loans, you are able to make payments on your interest that is accruing.

With the standard plan, you’ll pay a fixed amount each month until your loans are paid in full. Your monthly payments will be at least $50, and you’ll have up to 10 years to repay your loans.

Your monthly payment under the standard plan may be higher than it would be under the other plans because your loans will be repaid in the shortest time. For that reason, having a 10-year limit on repayment, you may pay the least interest.

To calculate your estimated loan payments, go to the Standard Repayment plan calculator.

Under the extended plan, you’ll pay a fixed annual or graduated repayment amount over a period not to exceed 25 years. If you’re a FFEL borrower, you must have more than $30,000 in outstanding FFEL Program loans. If you’re a Direct Loan borrower, you must have more than $30,000 in outstanding Direct Loans.

This means, for example, that if you have $35,000 in outstanding FFEL Program loans and $10,000 in outstanding Direct Loans, you can choose the extended repayment plan for your FFEL Program loans, but not for your Direct Loans. Your fixed monthly payment is lower than it would be under the Standard Plan, but you’ll ultimately pay more for your loan because of the interest that accumulates during the longer repayment period.

This is a good plan if you will need to make smaller monthly payments. Because the repayment period will be 25 years, your monthly payments will be less than with the standard plan. However, you may pay more in interest because you’re taking longer to repay the loans. Remember that the longer your loans are in repayment, the more interest you will pay.

To calculate your estimated loan payments, go to the Extended Repayment plan calculator.

Income Based Repayment is a new repayment plan for the major types of federal loans made to students. Under IBR, the required monthly payment is capped at an amount that is intended to be affordable based on income and family size.

You are eligible for IBR if the monthly repayment amount under IBR will be less than the monthly amount calculated under a 10-year standard repayment plan. If you repay under the IBR plan for 25 years and meet other requirements you may have any remaining balance of your loan(s) cancelled.

Additionally, if you work in public service and have reduced loan payments through IBR, the remaining balance after ten years in a public service job could be cancelled. For more important information about IBR, go to IBR Plan Information.