Loans Student Loans What Is the Extended Repayment Plan for Student Loans? By Miranda Marquit Updated on November 23, 2022 Reviewed by Marguerita Cheng Fact checked by Jess Feldman In This Article View All In This Article Extended Repayment Plan Explained How the Plan Works Who Can Qualify? Pros and Cons of the Plan Student Loan Repayment Options Photo: Hiraman / Getty Images Seeing your student loan payment after college can be a big shock—especially if your career doesn’t start out like you thought it would or you graduated into a recession. Even if you do have a job and are in good financial standing, it might not pay enough for you to be able to afford your student loan payments right away. Of those who attended college, 43%—a whole 30% of U.S. adults—have incurred at least some form of debt from their education, with the most common form being student loans, according to 2019 data from the Federal Reserve. The Federal Student Aid Office offers several federal student loan repayment plans designed to help you repay your student loans after you graduate college. With the Extended Repayment Plan, you might be able to get a more manageable monthly payment. This plan is designed to help you repay your student loans over the course of up to 25 years, rather than the standard 10 years. But lower payments mean you’ll pay more over time than you would with other repayment plans, so it’s important to know what you’re getting into before you choose extended repayment. Note On Aug. 24, 2022, President Joe Biden announced via Twitter the cancellation of $10,000 of federal student loan debt for eligible borrowers, and $20,000 for federal Pell Grant recipients. What Is the Extended Repayment Plan? The Extended Repayment Plan for student loans allows you to extend your repayment period up to 25 years, rather than the standard repayment timeline of 10 years. Borrowers must have $30,000 in student loan debt to qualify for this plan. Unlike an income-driven repayment plan, the Extended Repayment Plan doesn’t include any provisions for loan forgiveness, but the extra time to repay loans can make your monthly payments—averaging between $200 and $299 per month as of 2019—more affordable than they would be on the standard plan. The Extended Repayment Plan doesn’t qualify you for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). If you’re interested in PSLF, you need to choose a different repayment plan. Important On Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022, the Biden administration extended the pause on payments and interest on federal student loans for the eighth time. Borrowers with federal student loans won’t have to make payments, and loans won’t resume accumulating interest, until 60 days after court cases challenging Biden’s student loan forgiveness program are resolved or the Department of Education is allowed to move forward with the program. If the cases aren’t resolved by June 30, 2023, payments will resume two months after that. How the Extended Repayment Plan Works Your monthly payments are usually lower with the Extended Repayment Plan than what you’d pay under the standard or graduated plan. With this plan, you pay a fixed or a graduated amount, depending on the arrangement with your servicer. Your monthly payments will stay the same throughout repayment under the fixed plan, and with the graduated plan, they’ll start low and then increase. While monthly payments are lower, you’re likely to pay more in total than you would with a standard plan because you’re stretching your payments over a longer period of time—and paying interest for longer. So while your cash flow may be better with the Extended Repayment Plan, this may be the most expensive route overall for paying off your student loans. Carrying heavy debt for that long can also hamper your ability to meet other goals, like buying a house. Note The Department of Education has a simulator that can help you review and compare different student loan repayment plans. Once you decide what works best for you, contact your student loan servicer to set up your repayment plan. Who Can Qualify? There are no income requirements for the Extended Repayment Plan; however, in order to qualify, you must have at least $30,000 in outstanding student loans. The plan is available for all loans within the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program, as well as the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program, specifically PLUS Loans and Consolidation Loans. Note The FFEL Program, which was funded by private lenders, was discontinued in 2010, but some borrowers still have outstanding loans from the program. Direct and FFEL Loans are evaluated separately, meaning you must have $30,000 in the appropriate program to qualify. For example, if you have an outstanding balance of $35,000 in Direct loans and $20,000 in FFEL Loans, you’d be able to apply the Extended Repayment Plan to your Direct Loans, but not to your FFEL Loans. Pros and Cons of the Extended Repayment Plan Pros Available for both the Direct Loan and FFEL Programs Monthly payments might be lower than with the standard or graduated plan Cons Pay more over time because of interest Must have $30,000 in loans to qualify Not eligible for PSLF Other Student Loan Repayment Options If you have student loans, there are several other federal student loan repayment programs available. For borrowers hoping to take advantage of PSLF, one of the income-driven repayment plans might be a better choice, such as the Revised Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan (REPAYE). Note On Aug. 24, 2022, President Joe Biden’s administration proposed a new plan for federal student loan repayment for undergraduate loans. The plan would cap monthly payments at 5% of your monthly income. After 10 years, whatever remaining balance you have would be eliminated if the original loan balance was $12,000 or less. Additionally, there are other plans that offer loan forgiveness after 20 or 25 years, or after you meet certain requirements, such as being a teacher or health care worker in underserved communities. If you’re looking for a lower interest rate than what the federal government offers, you may be able to refinance student loans privately for a better interest rate. However, if you refinance privately, you won’t have access to the same deferral policies or to income-driven repayment options. Carefully consider your choices and your current situation, as there is no one-size-fits-all loan repayment plan. Figure out what is likely to work best for you and contact your federal student loan servicer to begin a repayment plan that fits your needs. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit Sources The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. "Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2018 - May 2019." Twitter. “@POTUS, Aug. 24, 2022 at 11:32 a.m.” U.S. Department of Education Federal Student Aid Office. "Choose the Federal Student Loan Repayment Plan That’s Best For You." U.S. Department of Education Federal Student Aid Office. "The Extended Repayment Plan Allows You to Repay Your Loans Over an Extended Period of Time." Department of Education. “Biden-Harris Administration Continues Fight for Student Debt Relief for Millions of Borrowers, Extends Student Loan Repayment Pause." U.S. Department of Education Federal Student Aid Office. "The Extended Repayment Plan Allows You to Repay Your Loans Over an Extended Period of Time." U.S. Department of Education Federal Student Aid Office. "Federal Student Loans for College or Career School are an Investment in Your Future." U.S. Department of Education Federal Student Loan Office. "FFEL Program Lender and Guaranty Agency Reports." Department of Education. “Biden-Harris Administration Announces Final Student Loan Pause Extension Through December 31 and Targeted Debt Cancellation To Smooth Transition to Repayment.”