Can you change your student loan repayment plan?

By Carolyn Morris | Published on October 21, 2025

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Many students think of their repayment plan as being set in stone. After all, when you sign all that paperwork at origination, it feels pretty darn binding. But as your financial circumstances change, you might realize that the repayment¹ plan you signed up for wasn’t what you thought it was. Maybe you optimistically signed up for a short term—and later discovered your monthly bill is just too high to manage. Or maybe you signed up for a long term only to find out the high interest payments aren’t worth the convenience.

Whatever the reason, many borrowers get a few years out from graduation, begin repayment, and start to wonder: Are you stuck with your loan term forever? Or can you change your student loan repayment plan?

The short answer: Yes. There are lots of ways to change repayment plans. They’re not “one size fits all,” and you don’t have to stick with a cookie-cutter plan if it’s not working for you. Here’s when to investigate your repayment options and how to personalize your student loan repayment to a plan that suits your needs.

When should you reexamine your repayment plan?

Student loan debt is a multi-year repayment process for many. The plan you have for repayment right out of college might not make sense once you are a couple of years into your career. Your life is not static, neither is your financial situation.

Every job change, raise, or promotion is an opportunity to review your financial situation and decide how much more you could be allocated toward paying down your loan balance. Personal life events are also a great time to take a look at your student loan repayment plan. If you’re saving up for a wedding, just got married, have experienced divorce, or are getting ready for a new baby, your expenses and routines will change. Make sure your repayment plan is still the best fit for your new situation.

If you have loans and recently married, you may have to calculate your joint income for repayment programs. Repayment plans for your federal student loans that made sense before might not be a good fit now. In fact, you can request a change or reevaluation for some federal plans if your income or family size have changed.

Income-driven repayment* plans must be recertified each year and your monthly payment amount may change each time. If you’re not in one of those plans, be sure to review your personal repayment plan at least every couple of years to make sure it’s still right for you. A great time to do this is around tax season when all your student loan tax paperwork has to come out anyway. Even if you spend an hour to discover you are still on the right track, you will feel satisfied knowing you are taking charge of your repayment journey, not just floating along.

* As a result of ongoing court actions, the terms of some Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plans, including the SAVE plan, may be subject to change. Please refer to studentaid.gov for the current status of these plans.

Ways to change your federal student loan repayment plan

If you want to update your plan with your current loan servicer you will need to contact them directly. You can also consolidate your loans (and choose a new loan servicer) through the U.S. Department of Education. Here’s how.

Switch to a graduated or extended repayment plan

If you signed up for a 10-year standard repayment plan when you first took out your federal loans, you might find that your monthly payments are pretty high. Fortunately, it’s fairly easy to switch to a graduated repayment plan, which will start your payments at a lower amount and gradually increase them every two years over the course of a 10-year period (between 10 and 30 years for consolidation loans). You can do this at any time by contacting your loan servicer.

If payments still seem too high under a graduated plan, consider switching to an extended repayment plan. Again, you can do this any time by contacting your federal loan servicer. With an extended repayment plan, you can choose a new loan term that’s up to 25 years in length. Dramatically lengthening your loan term will leave you with a much lower monthly payment. Just keep in mind that the longer the term, the more you’ll pay in interest charges over the life of the loan.

Consolidate your federal student loans

When you consolidate your federal loans, you basically lump together all your existing federal debt into a new loan under a new loan servicer. This can simplify payments because you will have one combined loan with only one interest rate. Federal consolidation preserves your access to most federal benefits like income-driven repayment and deferment. However, consolidating can reset your progress toward federal loan forgiveness.

Apply for an IDR plan

If you’re struggling to make payments, the federal government offers a variety of Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plans that are meant to make monthly payments more manageable. These base your payments on your income and family size rather than your loan amount. The IDR application on studentaid.gov was temporarily unavailable due to ongoing legal proceedings related to the Biden administration’s SAVE plan. But as of March 26, 2025, the online IDR application is once again available for eligible borrowers to apply for the Income-Based Repayment (IBR), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plans.

Explore student loan forgiveness

If you qualify for student loan forgiveness, you may also be able to effectively change your loan term. To work toward some forgiveness programs, you’ll need to first enroll in an IDR program. Under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program(PSLF), for example, you must make 10 years of consistent payments under an IDR plan to gain forgiveness. After that, the rest of your debt is forgiven. For Teacher Loan Forgiveness, a separate program, you can gain loan forgiveness after five years of qualifying employment.

Refinance your federal student loans

Has your financial situation improved since you graduated? If so, you may qualify for a lower interest rate than the one you currently have through student loan refinancing—which can include both private and federal loans. Refinancing will also include combining your loans into one payment, which will simplify tracking your debt. You also don’t have to refinance all of your student loans if some already have a low interest rate.

If you are utilizing the benefits of a federal repayment or forgiveness plan (such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness or PSLF), or if you anticipate difficulty repaying your loans in the future, refinancing may not be right for you. However, if you are not using federal benefits and would like to lower your payments—or pay off your loans faster by shortening your loan term—refinancing might be a strong solution.

Ways to change your private student loan repayment plan

If some or all of your student loans are private loans, you still have options to change your student loan repayment term. Here’s how.

Negotiate with your loan servicer

If you’re struggling to make your payments and need relief, reach out to your student loan servicer. Be candid about your circumstances and ask what your options are. It’s in a servicer’s best interest to help you stay out of default. For that reason, many will let you extend your term if it will help you stay on track with your payments. Sometimes, your lender will also work with you to lower your interest rate, especially if you have a strong history of on-time payments.

Refinance your private student loans

The other way to change your loan term is through refinancing. You can refinance just your private loans, or a combination of federal and private loans. With refinancing, you find a new lender who agrees to pay off all your old loans for you. Then, the new lender will issue you a single new loan in their stead. Since the result is a brand-new loan, you get to choose all-new terms—including a new repayment period. If you meet your lender’s eligibility requirements, you may also be able to score a lower interest rate, which can save you money over the life of the loan.

With Earnest, we let you customize your plan even further. At checkout, you can select a monthly payment that works best for you and your budget. Want to take a peek at the options before you apply? Use our student loan refinance calculator to toggle between loan terms and see how much you could save.

About the Author

Carolyn Morris

Carolyn is a content marketer and editor who specializes in financial services. With over a decade of experience in the financial services industry, Carolyn has a passion for demystifying the loan application and repayment process for students and their families.

Disclaimer

This blog post provides personal finance educational information, and it is not intended to provide legal, financial, or tax advice.