Hello Folks,

I recently graduated from my social work graduate program in May 2016 and have just received notice about my first monthly loan payment, which is due in December. During exit counseling, I opted for PAYE plan and based on the online student repayment calculator tool, my monthly payment should be significantly lower. I’m unable to find what my repayment plan is listed as on the loan servicer’s site, so I’m not sure if my monthly amount is based on the PAYE plan or not. I have not yet communicated with my loan servicer, but want to do my homework before contacting them. I am talking about federal graduate student loans.

(1) What is the best way to find out what repayment plan the loan servicer is using to calculate my monthly payment? Call them and ask them?
(2) What income is the servicer using to calculate my monthly payment? Is it based on the estimated salary I provided during exit counseling?
(3) If I was a full time student from 2014-2016, was not working full time during while a student, and will have a full-time salary only as of November 2016, how do I estimate my Adjusted Gross Income for 2016-2017?

Could anyone provide some suggestions and pointers.

Thank you very much.
MSW2016