Loan Repayment

Your first payment will be due approximately 30-45 days after your grace periond ends. At this point you must begin making monthly payments (both principal and interest) until your loan is paid off.

For Federal SLS borrowers who have been attending school full time, your repayment begins as soon as you leave school and your first payment will be due approximately 60 days after this. (Unless you choose to delay payment of your SLS Loan to coordinate it with your Stafford Loan. For more information on this see the section entitled Grace Period.)

Your lender will send you a Repayment Schedule and Disclosure Statement that lists your monthly payment, when your payments are due and the length of your repayment period. You should receive the schedule during your grace period. If you do not, contact your lender. You still must make your monthly payments even if you have not received your Repayment Schedule.

Minimum Payment

By law you must pay a minimum of $50 per month toward your total Federal Stafford/SLS balance or the interest that is due on the loan(s), which ever is greater.

New borrowers have the option of receiving repayment schedules. This means that your monthly payments are linked to your income, starting low and increasing as your earnings increase. For mor information about income-sensitive repayment schedules, contact your lender.

Repayment Periods

You are entitled to at least five years to repay your loan, as long as you meet the monthly minimum payments. At your lender's discretion, you may be allowed a maximum of 10 years, again, as long as this meets the monthly minimum payment.

In addition, lenders are required, to the extent practicable, to treat all of a borrower's loans of the same type as one loan with one billing. For example if you have three Federal Stafford Loans with one lender, that lender is required to treat those loans as one loan and you would have only one monthly payment to make.

However, if you have multiple lenders of more than one type of loan you will be required to make more than one payment per month. As you're making your monthly payments remember, if your payment is late or you make only a partial payment, your lender may charge you a late fee.

Prepayment

Review your Repayment Schedule carefully. If your payments are lower than anticipated remember you can prepay at any time without penalty. If the payments are more than you think you can afford, re-evaluate. It is to your advantage to pay off your loans as quickly as possible. If you truly cannot afford the payments, talk to your lender. You may be able to have your repayment period extended or you may qualify to postpone or reduce your payments.

Important Terms

Lender
The bank, credit union savings and loan association, etc., that provided your loan.

Repayment Schedule and Disclosure Statement
An addendum to the promissory note specifying the terms of repayment. You should receive a Repayment Schedule prior to the end of your grace period.

New Borrower
One whose Stafford or SLS Loans were first disbursed on or after July 1, 1993 and at that time did not have an outstanding balance on any Federal Family Education Loans taken out before July 1, 1993.

Prepayment
Earlier or larger payments than are required by the Repayment Schedule.

Maker
The borrower of the student loan. (You)

Grace PeriodGrace Period TablesRepayment Tables 



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