Student Loans

Standard

Fixed payments over ten years. The cheapest way to repay in total, and the one the income-driven caps are measured against.

How it works

  • Ten years of equal payments. Nothing is forgiven, and it costs the least in interest of any plan because it finishes soonest.
  • Payments count towards Public Service Loan Forgiveness, but a borrower on this plan for the full ten years clears the loan at roughly the same moment they reach 120 payments, so there is usually nothing left to forgive.
  • The Standard plan on a Direct Consolidation Loan is a different plan and does not count towards PSLF.

Who can still get on it

One loan first disbursed on or after 1 July 2026 puts every one of your Direct Loans into the RAP and Tiered Standard world, including loans you took out years earlier. A new Direct Consolidation Loan counts as such a loan. Consolidating to reach IBR or ICR had to be done by 30 June 2026.

Compare this against the other plans

Sources

  1. Repayment plans and important definitions, U.S. Department of Education. Checked on . Backs which plans are open to which borrowers from 1 July 2026; the Tiered Standard term brackets and its $50 minimum; the effect of a single post-cutover disbursement on all of a borrower's loans.
  2. Income-driven repayment plans, U.S. Department of Education. Checked on . Backs the IBR, PAYE and ICR formulas and forgiveness horizons.
  3. Court actions affecting income-driven repayment, U.S. Department of Education. Checked on . Backs the status of SAVE after the 10 March 2026 order; the 1% automatic debit reduction; that income-driven payment counters are not currently displaying.
  4. Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE): Federal Student Loan Program, final regulations, Office of the Federal Register. Checked on . Backs the regulation implementing the plan changes, effective 1 July 2026.

Checked on .