1. Set Up Your Studentaid.gov Account
Studentaid.gov is the U.S. Dept. of Education’s main website for federal student aid and a vital tool for managing your loans.
You can use your studentaid.gov account to:
- identify your servicer
- see what kinds of loans you have
- calculate and compare payments under various repayment plans
- enroll in repayment plans
- apply to consolidate
- submit employment certifications for Public Service Loan Forgiveness
If you haven’t already done so, you should also set up your online account with your federal loan servicer.
When you go to studentaid.gov, you’ll be prompted to sign in with your Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID and Password. If you don’t have an FSA ID, please make one. For help setting up your FSA ID or accessing your account, call the U.S. Dept. of Education at 1-800-433-3243.
2. Find Out Your Loan Types
There are several types of federal loans, including Direct Loans, Federal Family Education Loans (FFELs), and Perkins Loans. Some borrowers have a mix of federal loan types. Additionally, while most federal loans are owned by the U.S. Dept. of Education, some are owned by private lenders. To take advantage of the new repayment options like the SAVE plan and/or to pursue Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), borrowers need to have Direct Loans. If you don’t already have Direct Loans, you can consolidate your federal loans into the Direct Loan Program for free.
Here’s how to see what type(s) of federal loans you have:
- Log in to your studentaid.gov account. If you haven’t already set up an FSA ID, please create one.
- Once logged in, you will see your account dashboard as pictured below.
- Click "View Details."
- Then, scroll down to the section entitled “Loan Types.” You will see different categories of loans, as shown below.
- Click on each loan category to see all your loans within the category. In the below example, there are two loans with outstanding balances. The loan circled in blue is a Direct Loan. The loan circled in red is a FFEL Program Loan. Borrowers with FFEL Program Loans may want to consider consolidating into the Direct Loan Program to access the new SAVE plan described below, and/or PSLF. Carefully review each loan category to see if it contains loan types other than Direct Loans.
3. Can’t Afford Your Payments or Want to Earn Credit Toward IDR Forgiveness? Explore IDR and the New SAVE Plan
You may be able to significantly lower your payments by enrolling in an Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan, like the new SAVE plan. IDR plans base your monthly payment on your income and family size rather than your loan balance. They also offer the possibility of significant government interest subsidies and loan forgiveness. You can learn more about the new SAVE plan by watching this video from the U.S. Department of Education.
Lower Payments: The new SAVE plan is the most affordable IDR plan in history. Rather than protecting income under 150% of the federal poverty line, as most other IDR plans do, the SAVE plan protects income under 225%. This means it will cut monthly payments to $0 if you make less than $33,885 individually (or under $70,200 for a family of four).
Government Interest Subsidies: The new SAVE plan eliminates any remaining interest after a scheduled payment is made, preventing your loan balance from growing while you're in the plan.
Forgiveness Timelines: Under IDR plans, most borrowers can receive forgiveness in 20 years if they have only undergraduate school debt and 25 years if they have graduate school debt or Parent PLUS Loans. However, if your original federal loan balance was $21,000 or less, the SAVE plan offers forgiveness after 10-19 years, depending on your original balance.
You May Be Closer to IDR Forgiveness Than You Think: As part of a debt relief initiative known as the payment count adjustment, in September 2024, borrowers with federally owned loans (e.g., Direct Loans) will receive credit toward IDR forgiveness for many of their past payments and certain forbearances and deferments. This IDR payment count adjustment will bring many borrowers closer to receiving IDR forgiveness. Later this year, your new IDR qualifying payment counts should be displayed in your studentaid.gov account, enabling you to track your progress toward IDR forgiveness. Keep in mind that to continue earning credit toward IDR forgiveness, most borrowers will need to enroll in an IDR plan, like SAVE.
- Only Direct Loans are eligible for SAVE. But you can consolidate non-Direct Loans into the Direct Loan Program to make them eligible.
- SAVE payments on undergraduate debt went down by 50% in July 2024.
- If you were enrolled in the REPAYE plan at the start of the pandemic, you should have been automatically placed in SAVE.
- FFEL Program Loans are only eligible for the IBR plan, which offers less generous interest subsidies than SAVE, and has considerably higher monthly payments. Borrowers with FFELs can consolidate their loans into the Direct Loan Program to access SAVE.
- You can use the U.S. Dept. of Education’s Loan Simulator to calculate your monthly payment under the SAVE Plan and other IDR plans. Please note that the Loan Simulator’s loan forgiveness estimates are typically incorrect because they don’t account for the payment count adjustment.
Action Plan:
- Find out if you have Direct Loans by checking your studentaid.gov account or calling the U.S. Dept. of Education at 1-800-433-3243.
- If some or all of your loans are not Direct Loans, consider applying to consolidate these loans into the Direct Loan Program.
- Consider applying for the SAVE plan. You can do this through your Studentaid.gov account or by submitting an application to your loan servicer.
More Information:
- Learn more about the new SAVE plan on the U.S. Dept. of Education’s website.
- Learn more about the payment count adjustment on the U.S. Dept. of Education’s website.
- Learn more about consolidating federal loans on the U.S. Dept. of Education’s website.
4. Have Parent PLUS Loans? Find Out if You Can Use the Double Consolidation Loophole to Access SAVE
Parent PLUS loans aren’t eligible for the new more affordable SAVE plan or any other IDR plan. However, after they are consolidated, Parent PLUS Loans become eligible for the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan. Additionally, if you have at least one Parent PLUS Loan and one other federal loan (of any type, including another Parent PLUS Loan), you can use a “double consolidation loophole” to access the SAVE plan, which is often less expensive than ICR. You must complete all the necessary consolidations by July 1, 2025 to access SAVE. Before attempting to use the loophole, please use this chart to estimate your SAVE payments.
To learn more about how to use the loophole, you can follow our detailed instructions.
If you need help using the loophole or can’t use the loophole due to previously consolidating all your Parent PLUS loans into a single Direct Consolidation Loan, please file a Student Loan Help Request with our Office.
5. Work for the Government or a Nonprofit? Learn About PSLF
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program forgives the remaining balance on your Direct Loans after you’ve made 120 monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan, while working at least 30 hours per week for the government or certain types of nonprofit employers. The payments do not need to be consecutive.
To help public service workers get closer to receiving forgiveness, the U.S. Dept. of Education will be giving borrowers credit toward PSLF for past repayment periods and certain deferments and forbearances that would not otherwise count toward forgiveness. Through this payment count adjustment, some public service workers will receive loan forgiveness while others will get closer to receiving forgiveness. To benefit, you need to do two things:
- Have consolidated any non-Direct Loans (e.g., FFELs or Perkins Loans) into the Direct Loan Program by June 30, 2024, so you have Direct Loans by September 2024 when the U.S. Dept. of Education conducts the payment count adjustment.
- File PSLF Forms to Certify your Employment. The U.S. Dept. of Education can’t give you credit for your public service if it doesn’t know about it! If you don’t have approved employment certifications on file for all your past qualifying employment periods since the Oct. 1, 2007 start date of the PSLF Program, file a PSLF Form to certify your employment.
The U.S. Dept. of Education is changing how the PSLF Program is serviced. Servicing of the PSLF Program is now through the Federal Student Aid (FSA) Office and studentaid.gov rather than the previously designated servicer, MOHELA. During the transition between May – July 2024, processing of employment certifications was paused. You can now find your qualifying payment counts and certified employment periods listed in your studentaid.gov account.
To keep earning credit toward PSLF, most public service workers need to enroll in an Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan, such as SAVE.
Action Plan:
- Find out if you have Direct Loans by checking your studentaid.gov account or calling the U.S. Dept. of Education at 1-800-433-3243.
- If you have any non-Direct Loans, apply to consolidate them, so they are eligible for PSLF.
- Fill out employment certifications for all qualifying employment since Oct. 1, 2007.
- Enroll in an IDR plan, such as SAVE to continue earning credit toward forgiveness.
More Information:
- Learn more about the PSLF Program on the U.S. Dept. of Education’s website.
6. Are Your Loans in Default? Enroll in Fresh Start
Fresh Start offers an opportunity to remove any record of the default from your credit report and return your loans to good standing. Fresh Start also:
- Restores your access to Income-Driven Repayment (IDR), which bases your monthly payments on your income and provides opportunities for loan forgiveness.
- Half of Fresh Start borrowers are paying $0 a month in IDR, and 60% are paying less than $50 a month!
- Protects you from wage garnishment, tax refund interception, and costly collection fees.
- Gives you credit toward IDR loan forgiveness for time spent in default since March 2020.
- Restores your access to federal financial aid.
You must enroll in Fresh Start by 2:59am on Oct. 2, 2024.
Enrolling in Fresh Start is easy and free! There are three ways to enroll:
- By phone. Call the Default Resolution Group at 1-800-621-3115. The process can take less than 10 minutes.
- Online. Log in or create an account at myeddebt.ed.gov and sign up through your account.
By mail. Write a letter that includes your name, social security number, date of birth, and the following sentence: “I would like to use Fresh Start to bring my loans back into good standing.” Send your letter to:
Default Resolution Group
P.O. Box 5609
Greenville, TX 75403
If you need help enrolling in Fresh Start, please file a Student Loan Help Request with the Ombudsman’s Student Loan Assistance Unit.
After your loans are taken out of default and assigned to a federal loan servicer (4-6 weeks after enrolling in Fresh Start), you can enroll in an IDR plan, like SAVE.
More Information:
- Learn more about Fresh Start on the U.S. Dept. of Education’s website.
7. File a Complaint with the Ombudsman's Student Loan Assistance Unit
If you live in Massachusetts and have a complaint against a student loan servicer, you can file a Student Loan Help Request with the Ombudsman’s Student Loan Assistance Unit. Please describe your complaint in as much detail as possible.
If you don’t live in Massachusetts, you can’t file a complaint with our Office. Instead, you can contact other state and federal agencies for help.
Student Loan Help Request forms are reviewed in the order in which they are received. It is important that you continue to meet any deadlines while you are waiting to hear from us. If your request would be better handled by a different government agency, we will refer you to that agency.
The Attorney General's Office cannot provide legal advice or act as your attorney. If you have questions concerning the specific application or interpretation of the law, please consult with a private attorney.
While waiting to hear from us, we encourage you to collect information about your federal student loans by creating an account on the U.S. Dept. of Education’s website at studentaid.gov. Once logged in to your account, you will see a full list of your federal student loans, along with servicer contact information, loan types, interest rates, principal and interest balances, and other information that will help clarify your repayment options and the steps needed to access debt relief. Private student loans are not tracked by the U.S. Dept. of Education but may be listed on your credit report. You can obtain a free copy of your credit report once a year from each of the three major credit reporting agencies.
Additional Resources
8. Avoid Scams
Student loan “debt relief” companies charge fees for helping student loan borrowers access federal loan debt relief programs. There is nothing these companies can do for you that you can’t do on your own for free! If anyone contacts you asking for your personal information (like your FSA ID and password), your bank account information, or money to help you access debt relief—they’re trying to scam you. Visit the U.S. Dept. of Education’s website to learn more about the warning signs of a debt relief scam.
U.S. Dept. of Education Resources
- Create your FSA ID
- Login to Studentaid.gov to Review your Federal Loans
- Apply to Consolidate Your Loans
- Income-Driven Repayment Plans
- Loan Repayment Plan Simulator
- Public Service Loan Forgiveness
- Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness
- Teacher Loan Forgiveness
- Perkins Loan Cancellation
- Total and Permanent Disability Discharge