How To Change Your Student Loan Repayment Plan

Sixty-three percent of student loan borrowers have reported having difficulty making a payment, according to a 2024 survey by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Borrowers struggling to make payments might benefit from modifying their repayment plan, which can lower their monthly payment or otherwise offer financial relief. 

Unfortunately, not all borrowers are aware of this option. The CFPB survey found that 31% of borrowers on the federal Standard Repayment Plan didn’t know they could change plans, and 14% needed help understanding their repayment plan options. 

Here’s what you need to know about changing your student loan repayment plan.

Current student loan refinance rates

Can you change your student loan repayment plan?

You can change repayment plans for federal student loans at any time through your loan servicer. There’s no cost for making this change, and you can switch repayment plans multiple times during the life of the loan.

“There’s really no limit to the number of times you can change your repayment plan,” says Dr. Darla Bishop, student loan expert and author of “How To Afford College.” 

Private lenders, on the other hand, typically won’t allow you to change repayment plans. To change a private student loan repayment plan, you’d generally need to refinance your loan. However, it’s worth reaching out to your lender to find out if it’s possible to switch your repayment plan.

How to change your student loan repayment plan

To change your federal student loan repayment plan, follow these steps:

Types of student loan repayment plans you can switch to

There are currently seven federal repayment options. Your choices include:

• Standard Repayment Plan: This repayment option has fixed monthly payments over a 10-year period.
• Graduated Repayment Plan: Under this plan, you repay your loans over a 10-year period, but your monthly payments start smaller and increase every 2 years.
• Extended Repayment Plan: If you owe more than $30,000 in federal student loans, you can choose an extended plan that allows you to repay your loans over a 25-year period. 
• Income-driven repayment (IDR) plans: There are 4 income-driven repayment plans — Saving on a Valuable Education, Pay As You Earn, Income-Based Repayment, and Income-Contingent Repayment. An IDR plan sets your monthly payment based on your income and family size. Borrowers on an IDR plan must recertify their income and family size every year to remain eligible for the plan. Any balance remaining at the end of the IDR plan period, which may be 20 or 25 years, will be forgiven.

Changes to federal student loan repayment plans in 2026

The repayment plans listed above are the current available options, but federal student loan repayment will change starting in July 2026 due to the 2025 passing of the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act.” 

“Repayment plans for new borrowers as of July 1, 2026, will be less generous,” says student loan expert Mark Kantrowitz. “Instead of multiple repayment plan options, there will be two: a tiered Standard Repayment Plan that increases the repayment term as your debt increases, and an income-driven Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) that bases the monthly payment on your income.” 

The new RAP plan will have a minimum monthly payment of $10. This is different from the SAVE Plan, which allowed qualifying borrowers to have payments as low as $0.

Borrowers whose loans are disbursed prior to July 1, 2026, will be able to access all currently available repayment plans. Those with loans taken out on or after that date must select one of the two new plans.

By July 1, 2028, borrowers still enrolled in the legacy income-driven repayment plans PAYE, ICR, or SAVE will be required to transition to a new repayment option. If they do not select a plan, their servicer will automatically move them into either the new Repayment Assistance Plan or IBR, depending on their loan type and eligibility.

How long does it take to change student loan repayment plans?

The process of changing your repayment plan isn’t instantaneous. There’s a little lag time between when you make the request and when your loan servicer is able to process the update to your repayment plan. During that transition period, expect to continue making monthly payments at the same rate you always have.

But Bishop offers reassurance that the processing time shouldn’t take long. 

“Other than a brief waiting period for the change request paperwork to go through — and that can vary from one loan servicer to another — this is a common process that servicers expect and are well-equipped to handle,” she says.

Staying in contact with your loan servicer can help you know what to expect and when during the process.

See Also: How Long Does It Take To Pay Off Student Loans? 

How changing student loan repayment plans affects forgiveness and interest

Depending on which student loan repayment plan you’re changing to, making the switch can lower your monthly payments, but it may also affect your timeline or eligibility for forgiveness. Here’s how:

• Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF): Borrowers may switch to an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan from the standard 10-year repayment plan to take advantage of loan forgiveness after 120 on-time monthly payments. Borrowers switching to a graduated or extended repayment plan are ineligible for PSLF.
• Income-driven repayment loan forgiveness: Borrowers who remain on an IDR plan for the full repayment period (20 or 25 years, depending on the plan) will see any remaining balance forgiven. Switching to a different repayment plan can affect this timeline, since payments you make on a graduated or extended repayment plan will not count toward IDR forgiveness. However, if you later switch back to an IDR plan from the Standard Repayment Plan, you’ll keep whatever progress you’ve made toward forgiveness. 

If you’re considering refinancing your federal student loans with a private loan, it’s important to remember that this will make you ineligible for federal student loan forgiveness. Refinancing may allow you to access a lower monthly payment, a shorter repayment term, a lower interest rate, or a lower loan cost overall, but make sure you understand what you’re giving up in exchange.

You May Also Like: A Complete List of Student Loan Forgiveness Programs in 2025