FAQs about IBR calculator
Federal student loan borrowers pay a percentage of their discretionary income – 10%, 15% or 20% – depending on the specific income-driven repayment plan you choose. Discretionary income is what you have left after taxes and an allowance for necessary spending, such as food and shelter. Discretionary income multiplies the federal poverty line for your family size by 1.5 then subtracts that from your adjusted gross income.
Income-Based Repayment (IBR) caps your monthly payment at 15% of your discretionary income and offers forgiveness after 25 years of qualifying payments. Pay As You Earn (PAYE) limits your monthly payment to 10% of your discretionary income and offers forgiveness after 20 years of qualifying payments. Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) is also 10% of your discretionary income and provides forgiveness after 20 years (25 years for borrowers with grad school debt). Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) caps payments at 20% of discretionary income and offers forgiveness after 25 years.
Each plan has different requirements. All IDR plans are only available for federal student loans, not private loans. For REPAYE, any borrower with eligible federal student loans is eligible. For PAYE and IBR Plans, your payment needs to be lower than it would be under the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan. The only plan that allows federal parent loans is ICR, if you consolidate them first.
You can apply by submitting a plan request . You can apply with your federal income tax return if your income has not changed. If it has, you’ll need further documentation to prove your income has changed, such as a new recent paystub.
There is an annual deadline to recertify your income and family size. If you don’t recertify, your payment will increase to the standard 10-year repayment amount.
The benefits of enrolling in an Income-Driven Repayment plan is it can lower your monthly payments, which helps you avoid your loans going into default. You can also get your loans forgiven after you have made the required number of qualified payments while working full-time in a qualifying occupation.
The drawback of Income-Driven Repayment plans is that you may end up paying more on your loan because you are paying more interest. Whatever amount is forgiven once you’ve made 20 or 25 years of qualifying payments will be taxed as income.
No, private student loans are not eligible for Income-Driven Repayment Plans.
If your income or family size changes, you can recertify, even in the middle of the year. This means your payment will be recalculated.
Once you have completed the required qualified payments, the rest of the loan balance is forgiven, including the remaining principal and interest. But keep in mind that whatever the total amount that is that is forgiven, counts as income, and will be taxed as such.
