Hi Heather,

I spoke with Federal Loan Servicer representative and Great Lakes (who currently manage my loans) today and was told something I had never heard. They both said that if I pay off the balance of any loans disbursed prior to the 2007 date of a ‘new borrower’ before consolidating, then I would be eligible for the PAYE plan instead of IBR. Have you heard of this being true? I ask because I have $5,000 that I could potentially pay off with savings now and save a lot of money by being in the PAYE instead of IBR, but would only consider doing that if it was indeed the case.

Thanks for the clarification,

Aaron