You may repay your loans at any time without penalty. The Standard Repayment Plan requires you to pay a fixed amount each month for up to 10 years, depending on the amount borrowed. The Extended Repayment Plan allows you to make payments over 12 to 30 years, depending on the amount borrowed. The loan amount you pay each month may be lower than under the Standard Repayment Plan, but you may end up paying more in interest over the life of the loan because of the longer repayment period. The Graduated Repayment Plan allows you to make lower payments initially, generally for the first two years.
Payments then increase in graduated levels every two years.
Repayment can extend from 12 to 30 years, depending on the total amount borrowed. As in the Extended Repayment Plan, you may end up paying more in interest over the life of the loan because of the longer repayment period. Under the Income Contingent Repayment Plan, monthly loan payments are based on yearly income, family size, and loan amount borrowed. Payments will increase or decrease based on changes in income. The Income Contingent Repayment Plan is not available to PLUS loan borrowers.