Loan Repayment

Explore these federal and state resources for help repaying your federal student and parent (PLUS) loans.

Repaying Federal Loans

Federal Loan Data

Visit the Manage Loans section of studentaid.gov to access your federal loan data, estimate payments, apply for payments plans or consolidate your loans.

Repayment Plans

Use the Loan Simulator to explore repayment plans, forgiveness, cancellation and discharge options.

Compare the repayment plan options. The standard repayment plan offers the lowest total borrowing costs because it pays off your loan the fastest, but the other plans can be helpful if the monthly payments from the standard plan are too high. If you want to pay off your loan faster, you can prepay all or a portion of your loan at any time without penalty.

If you have repayment problems or questions, contact your federal loan servicer.  To find your federal loan servicer, log in to studentaid.gov. They can help you to avoid the consequences of delinquent payments and default. Many options are available including different repayment plans, deferments and forbearance.

Consolidation Options

Explore your Direct Consolidation Loan options if you are interested in reducing your total monthly loan payments by combining loans from several different federal loan programs into a single consolidation loan.

Public Service Employees

Public service employees should explore the eligibility requirements and application process for the federal Public Service Employee Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.

Federal Loan Deferment and Forbearance

Learn about your loan Deferment and Forbearance options:

  • During qualified enrollment deferment periods, you may defer making payments on your PLUS loan, but interest will always continue to accrue during all deferment periods.
  • If you don’t qualify for a deferment, but are having trouble making your payments, you can request a forbearance. If your request is approved, you can temporarily postpone your loan payments, but interest will continue to accrue.
  • You could also consider switching to a different repayment plan.

Federal Loan Forgiveness, Cancellation and Discharge

Federal Direct Subsidized, Unsubsidized, and PLUS Loans may be eligible for several Loan Forgiveness, Cancellation and Discharge options including but not limited to total and permanent disability discharge and public services loan forgiveness. PLUS Loans are not eligible for teacher loan forgiveness.

Maryland Loan Repayment Programs

If you are a Maryland resident, explore these repayment programs: