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What happens if I can’t afford to make my scheduled monthly payments under the IBR, Pay As You Earn, or ICR Plan? Are other repayment options availabl
Payments made under certain other Direct Loan repayment plans may be counted toward the 120
separate, monthly payments required for PSLF. However, the IBR, Pay As You Earn, and ICR Plans
usually provide the lowest monthly payments of the PSLF-qualifying plans. Therefore, changing from
the IBR, Pay As You Earn, or ICR Plan to one of the other PSLF-qualifying repayment plans will rarely
result in a lower monthly payment.
If you cannot afford to make your scheduled, monthly payment, you should contact your federal loan
servicer to discuss deferment or forbearance options that would allow you to temporarily stop making
your loan payments or temporarily make them for a lower amount. Although you will no longer be
making PSLF-qualifying payments during an authorized period of deferment or forbearance, you will
avoid becoming delinquent on repayment of your loan.