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Managing Undergraduate Loans

One of the biggest challenges for most prospective graduate students is the thought of managing undergraduate loans. Good news! Most loan programs have provisions allowing students to postpone payment during enrollment in a degree program. Check with your loan servicer for more details.

Repayment Plans

Standard Repayment

Monthly payments are equal throughout the life of the loan. Interest costs are lower with a Standard Repayment Plan. 

Graduated Repayment

May begin with smaller payments covering just the interest gradually increasing over time, or begin with low principal and interest payments gradually increasing to payout. Total interest costs will be higher than the Standard Repayment Plan due to the minimal reduction of your principal with the initial payments.

Income-Sensitive Repayment

Your monthly payments are tied to your income and increase along with earnings. Total interest costs may be greater than those associated with the Graduated or Standard Repayment Plans due to minimal principal reduction with initial payments.

Extended Repayment

If all of your student loans were first disbursed on or after October 7, 1998 and you have a minimum of $30,000 in outstanding student loan debt, you may have up to a 25-year repayment term. Total interest costs increase as a result of the longer repayment period and could be compounded.

Loan Consolidation

If you have sizeable student loan debt or make multiple payments to different lenders, you might want to consider consolidating your loans. Especially considering that your federal student loans interest rates change annually, consolidating will allow you to lock in a weighted average of all of the interest rates.

Loan consolidation has two primary benefits: your eligible federal student loans are combined into one loan, making repayment easier and the longer repayment schedule can significantly reduce your monthly payment amount. 

Deferment & Forbearance

While enrolled in a graduate program, you may be eligible to postpone your payments on undergraduate loans through deferment or forbearance. There are many types of deferment, some of the more common are listed below. If you do not qualify for a deferment, you might be eligible for a forbearance which is a temporary postponement of payment of your principal and interest due to financial hardship.