Stafford Loan Repayment

After you graduate from school or drop below half-time status, there is a six-month grace period during which you will not be required to begin Stafford loan repayment. As you prepare to leave school, you should prepare yourself for repayment.

Stafford Student Loan Repayment Plans

You have four options available to you to repay your Stafford loans as described below.

Standard repayment

This option requires you to pay a fixed amount each month based on your principle and interest but will be no less than $50 or the interest that has accrued. This is the most common form of Stafford loan repayment.

Graduated repayment

Graduated Stafford loan repayment allows you to make lower payments at the beginning of the repayment period. Then, over time, your payments will be increased. Each of your payments must equal the interest accrued on the loan between scheduled payments and initial payments general cover interest only for the first few years.

Income based repayment

Income based repayment (sometimes called IBR) can help borrowers keep their Stafford loan payments affordable with payment caps based on their income and family size. For most eligible borrowers, IBR loan payments will be less than 10% of their income - and even smaller for borrowers with low earnings. Check out the Student Loan Network's page on income based repayment to learn more.

Extended Repayment

Extended Repayment provides eligible Federal Stafford student loan borrowers with payment relief through a lengthened repayment term of up to 25 years.

Calculate Your Payments

To estimate your anticipated cost of living once you leave school, you may want to view the student loan budget calculator provided by StudentLoans.com which provides an interactive, intuitive worksheet to prepare a potential budget. Starting with your anticipated income and subtracting income tax, you can forecast your monthly cost of housing, utilities, food, travel, transportation, student loans and other miscellaneous expenses.

Find Out Your Required Salary

Another useful tool to assist you in preparation for Stafford student loan repayment is the student loan debt/salary wizard from StudentLoans.com. The debt/salary wizard from StudentLoans.com will help you determine your required salary in order to meet your monthly financial obligations.