Make monthly payments that are as low as interest-only for the first few years or monthly payments of principal and interest. With extended repayment, you may have up to 25 years to repay your federal student loans.

Remember: By lengthening your repayment term, you can lower your monthly payment, but the overall loan cost will be higher. Minimum cumulative outstanding loan balance by private student loan program requirements apply. Not all private student loans are eligible for extended repayment.

Eligible FFELP student loan programs

FFELP loan programs eligible for extended repayment include:

• Stafford (subsidized and unsubsidized), PLUS (Parent and Graduate), and Federal Consolidation loans.

To qualify for extended repayment, you must meet the following conditions:

• Have a total outstanding balance of eligible student loans that exceeds $30,000. You may include the balances of eligible loans held by other lenders such as banks and credit unions to meet this requirement.
• Have one or more Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loan(s) first disbursed on or after Oct. 7, 1998, with no other outstanding FFELP loans disbursed before that date.
• Have obtained a Federal Consolidation loan on or after Oct. 7, 1998 with no other outstanding FFELP loans when the consolidation loan was made.

Private student loan programs

Sallie Mae private student loans first disbursed June 1, 2009 and later require monthly interest-only payments during the in-school and separation periods. Check the terms of your loan's Promissory Note and log in to Manage Your Loans to see if your loan status shows repayment. If so, and you are enrolled in school, then you are not eligible for other repayment options at this time.

Sallie Mae private student loans first disbursed before June 1, 2009 may be eligible for graduated repayment to lower the initial monthly loan payments.

Combined billing is available for student loans that are serviced by Sallie Mae. Some restrictions may apply.