We are two attorneys, one working public interest and about 5 years in on PSLF. I am at a law firm. We both have consolidated federal direct student loans, and are both on IBR. I am considering refinancing my loans only with a private lender for a much lower interest rate because I’m going to start aggressively paying off my loans over the next couple of years.

Here are the questions:

(1) Would the status of my loans/repayment terms (i.e., private, non-IBR vs. consolidated federal loans right now) affect her IBR or other repayment plan?

(2) Would my loans going private affect her PSLF eligibility?

I’m reasonably confident the answer to both of those is “no,” but I’m not 100% sure. I don’t see how anything to do with my loans could ever effect her PSLF eligibility for sure (#2), but I’m a little less sure how #1 plays out. My understanding is that my income (we file jointly) affects what she pays on IBR and other plans, but I don’t think the status of my loans affects it. That is, my loans don’t have to be federal consolidated loans in order for her to qualify for IBR, do they? The only thing that hangs in my mind is the partial economic hardship calculation—do they still do that? If so, does that calculation only take into account the other spouse’s federal loans or something like that? That’s the only scenario I can come up with where it would matter if I switch from consolidated federal loans to a private lender.

Thanks in advance for folks’ thoughts—