Reducing your payment

If your current student loan payment is not affordable with your budget, talk to your lender about the various repayment options you can choose from.

• Standard repayment: One fixed monthly payment for up to 10 years.
• Graduated repayment:  Payments start out low and gradually increase during the repayment period.
• Income-sensitive repayment:  Payments are adjusted each year to between 4 percent and 25 percent of your income.
• Extended repayment: If you have $30,00 in federal loans made after 1998, you may have up to 25 years to repay.
• Income-based repayment: If your loan payments during the year exceed 15 percent of your "discretionary" income, you may limit your payments to 15 percent of your "discretionary" income.

You can also check out a repayment calculator.