Should I Recertify for an Income-Driven Repayment Plan for my Federal Student Loans?

Are you on an Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan for your federal student loans? If not, IDR plans are worth looking into, since they can reduce your loan payments to as little as $0 a month. 

If you’re already on a plan, you’ll need to “recertify” at least once a year. IDRs reduce your loan payments based on income and family size, so the Department of Education (ED) analyzes this information annually to determine eligibility. But you also need to recertify any time your income or family size changes. In either case, failing to recertify could cause an increase in your payment and you might lose a variety of other valuable perks.

What happens if I don’t recertify?

The ED requires you to recertify for your payment plan every year. You don’t have to take any action if you’ve already given the ED permission to automatically complete the process. Failing to recertify, however, can mean losing out on valuable benefits. For example:

• For PAYE and ICR plans, your payment will adjust to the amount due under a Standard Repayment Plan.
• For IBR plans, your unpaid interest will be added to your loan balance and your payment will adjust to the amount due under a Standard Repayment plan.
• If your income decreased and/or your family grew, you can miss out on lower payments.
• Your monthly payments might not count toward student loan forgiveness, which you’d otherwise be eligible for after 25, 20 or even 10 years on an IDR plan.

Five steps to recertify for Income-Driven Repayment

You can recertify for IDRs online, and the process usually takes 10 minutes or less. Before getting started, we recommend using the Department of Education’s Loan Simulator to estimate your payment details and help you choose a plan. Then, you can follow these steps:

1. Log in at StudentAid.gov.
2. Review your loan information to see which loans are eligible for IDR plans.
3. Verify your information and, if requested, upload documents. 
4. Review the available plans and choose the one that works best.
5. Read and agree to the Terms and Conditions.

If you’ve missed the recertification date, you can reach out to your servicer to update your information and get back on the correct plan.

Recertify automatically

If you don’t want to fill out the annual application and you have a Direct Loan, you can authorize the ED to automatically recertify you. To do so, you have to agree to let the ED exchange information with the IRS. That information typically includes your SSN and federal tax information (FTI).

To choose this option, simply select “Provide Approval” when prompted during the recertification process. After selecting this option, the ED will notify you of annual changes to your plan before they go into effect.

Recertifying when your situation changes

If there’s a change in your income or family size before the annual recertification date, you need to let your loan servicer know. Contact the servicer and ask them to do an automatic recalculation to see if your payment can be adjusted.

Here’s how you can contact your servicer:

• Nelnet: Nelnet.StudentAid.gov or 1-888-486-4722
• Aidvantage: Aidvantage.StudentAid.gov or 1-800-722-1300
• EdFinancial: EdFinancial.StudentAid.gov or 1-855-337-6884
• MOHELA: Mohela.StudentAid.gov or 1-888-866-4352
• CRI: Cri.StudentAid.gov or 1-833-355-4311
• SPS: 1-800-433-3243

If you’re not sure who to contact, you can look up your servicer at StudentAid.gov. 

Help with student loan payments

Recertifying for your IDR plan each year is a must. But it’s only one part of managing student loans. If you have student loans and you want to know more about IRDs, federal student loan forgiveness plans or any other aspect of your debt, you can talk to an NFCC-certified credit counselor. Your counselor will not only answer questions about student loan repayment, but they can also help you deal with other financial issues, like a change in your income or your family size. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

I missed my annual recertification date. What should I do?

If you’ve missed the annual recertification date for your Income-Driven Repayment plan (IDR), you can still recertify and get on the correct plan. Just reach out to your loan servicer and update your information.

Does my spouse have to cosign on my income-driven repayment (IDR) plan request?

In the past, spouses were required to cosign, but this is no longer a requirement unless you’re repaying your Direct Loans jointly under the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan.

What is the new Income-Driven Repayment plan?

In 2023, a new Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan was launched, called the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan. If implemented, SAVE will give most borrowers lower payments than they get on any other IDR plan. However, as of June 2024 the plan has been blocked by two federal judges.