Why isn income-based repayment available for private student loans?
Income-based repayment is a federal repayment plan for federal student loans. The terms of private student loans are set by the banks and financial institutions that offer them, not the federal government. No private student loan program offers income-based repayment. • Why isn’t income-based repayment available for federal PLUS loans? Income-based repayment is available for Grad PLUS loans but not Parent PLUS loans. Congress specifically excluded Parent PLUS loans. • I’ve been repaying my student loans for 25 years. Can I switch into the income-based repayment plan and get my loans forgiven now? The forgiveness occurs after 25 years in income-based repayment, income-contingent repayment and/or the economic hardship deferment, not other repayment plans. (Loan payments made under a standard ten-year repayment plan also count, but obviously a borrower who is using the standard repayment plan will have paid off the debt in full in only ten years. This provision is mainly beneficial to bor
