Q: What are Income-Based Repayment for student loans, how do I know if I can qualify for the Income-Based Repayment program, and can I also apply this repayment program to my private student loan debt?
A: The Income-Based Repayment option for student loans is a federal government program that could save qualified borrowers money and help lower their monthly student loan payments. The Income-Based Repayment option caps monthly student loan payments (for those who qualify) at an affordable level based on the borrowers income and family size, and may also forgive any student loan debt and interest that remains after 25 years.
What Income-Based repayment could mean for those who are underpaid, underemployed, or just plain unemployed, is that your student loan payments won’t break the bank. If you owe more on your federal student loans than you earn in a year, you may qualify for this federal student loan repayment program. The lower your income, the lower your monthly payment will be: in some cases, as low as $0. Income-Based Repayment covers almost all federal loans from the past, present, or future that were made by any lender for college or graduate school. The Income-Based Repayment Program is available for federal student loans only, private student loan debt will not qualify for the Income-Based Repayment Program. More information about Income-Based Repayment for your student loans is available at www.IBRinfo.org. The site has a simple calculator you can use to estimate your eligibility and monthly payment, and answers to many frequently asked questions.
Providing tips on paying for college, and answering all of your student loan and college financial aid questions. Have a college financial aid question? Submit it on our Facebook page, or by hitting the Contact Us link below. Follow us on Twitter, or join us on Facebook for daily financial aid tips and new scholarship listings.
