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Whether you’ve recently graduated from college or you’ve been making payments for years, student loan debt can seem endless. When you take out a federal student loan, the Standard Repayment Plan is typically 10 years. But for loans issued on or after July 1, 2026, there is a new Tiered Standard Plan with student loan terms that range from 10 to 25 years, depending on your loan amount.
According to the Education Data Initiative, the average time to pay off student loans is 20 years for the average student borrower. However, this timeline can vary based on factors such as the type of repayment plan and interest.
Continue reading to learn more about student loan terms and discover steps you can take to help reduce your debt.
Key Points
• Student loan repayment terms vary significantly, with federal loans taken before July 1, 2026 offering a 10-year standard plan and private loans having terms set by individual lenders.
• Federal student loans provide multiple repayment options, including income-driven plans that adjust payments based on discretionary income and family size, potentially forgiving remaining balances on the Income-Based Repayment plan and Repayment Assistance Plan after a specified period.
• Borrowers may expedite loan repayment by making extra payments, choosing another repayment plan, or refinancing, although refinancing federal loans makes them ineligible for federal benefits.
• Income-driven repayment might lower monthly payments for some borrowers, but extending the loan term may increase overall interest costs.
• Employer assistance for student loans made available under the CARES Act, allowing tax-free payments up to $5,250 annually per employee, was made permanent by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
How Long Are Student Loan Terms?
How long it takes to pay off student loans can vary based on a few different factors. There is a specific selection of repayment plans and student loan terms available for federal student loan borrowers. The Standard Repayment Plan for loans issued before July 1, 2026, spans 10 years, but borrowers can change their repayment plan at any time, without incurring any fees.
The 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) created a new Tiered Standard Plan that applies to loans issued on or after July 1, 2026. This plan has student loan terms that start at 10 years for loan balances less than $25,000, and go up to 25 years for balances over $100,000.
The terms on private student loans vary by lender. Terms are set by the individual lender at the time the loan is borrowed. To adjust the terms of a private student loan, the borrower will generally need to refinance the student loan. Check with the private student loan lender to find out more information.
Federal Student Loan Terms
These are the current repayment plans for student federal loans, along with their loan terms.
• Standard Repayment Plan: The loan term is up to 10 years for loans issued before July 1, 2026. Not available for loans issued on or after that date.
• Tiered Standard Plan: The loan term is 10 to 25 years for loans issued on or after July 1, 2026.
• Graduated Repayment Plan: The loan term is up to 10 years for loans issued before July 1, 2026. Not available for loans issued on or after that date.
• Extended Repayment Plan: The loan term is up to 25 years for loans issued before July, 1, 2026. Not available for loans issued on or after that date.
• Income-Driven Repayment Plans:
â—¦ Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Plan: The loan term is 20 years.
â—¦ Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan: The loan term is 20 or 25 years.
â—¦ Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan: The loan term is 25 years.
â—¦ Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP): The loan term is up to 30 years.
Read more about income-driven plans and how they work below.
Private Student Loan Terms
For those who’ve taken out private student loans to pay for school, the average student loan term may differ from those with federal loans. Some private lenders have terms that are 10 years like their federal counterparts. Other lenders may cap terms at 20 or 25 years.
The repayment timeline for private loans varies — for some private loans, borrowers might have to start paying the loan back while they’re still in school. And the loans may have fixed or variable interest rates. Because of this, it’s hard to measure the average time it takes to pay off student loans when looking at private loans.
Recommended: Average Student Loan Debt
Paying Off Your Student Loans Sooner
There are a number of smart ways to pay off student loans. Most important is to make your payments on-time each month.
But strategies to pay off student loans quickly may help accelerate your pay-off timeline. Here are some methods that might help eliminate student debt sooner than later.
Pay More Than the Minimum
Paying the minimum balance due might be what you can afford right now. But if you come into some extra cash — whether through a bonus at work, a gift from a relative, or your tax refund — you could put this money toward your student loan balance.
You can direct your lender to apply the extra cash to the principle of your loans. Here’s why: Making principal-only payments on student loans helps lower the principal balance of your loan, which can reduce the amount of interest you’ll pay, and even help you pay off the loan faster.
Want to pay your student loans off fast?
Understand how student loan
refinancing can help.
Refinance Your Loans
Some borrowers, particularly those with private student loans, may want to consider refinancing.
Refinancing student loans means a borrower replaces their existing loans with a new loan with new terms from a private lender. Ideally, the interest rate would be lower, which could save the borrower money on interest over the life of the loan.
But keep in mind that refinancing federal loans makes them ineligible for federal loan benefits like income-based repayment, forgiveness, and deferment. If you’d like to take advantage of those benefits, refinancing probably isn’t right for you.
Recommended: Refinancing vs. Paying Off Student Loans Early
Choosing Another Payment Plan
As mentioned, federal student loan borrowers can change their repayment plan at any time. To see if it might be beneficial to switch to another plan, you can calculate your monthly payments under different plans with a student loan calculator. Once you have an estimate of what your payments would be, you can decide if you want to choose a new payment plan or stick with your current plan.
Income-driven repayment is one option that generally allows federal student loan borrowers to lower their monthly payments, though this often results in an extended loan term with increased interest costs. Here are the details on income-driven repayment.
Income-Driven Repayment
Income-driven repayment (IDR) bases a borrower’s monthly payments on discretionary income and family size. This can be helpful for those in entry-level and/or lower-paying positions.
If a borrower’s financial situation improves, their monthly payment minimum increases in turn (and vice versa). Income-based repayment often has a longer term, which could mean you paying more interest over the life of your loans. The types of income-driven repayment include the PAYE, IBR, ICR and RAP plans.
Income-Based Repayment (IBR)
IBR sets payments at 10% of discretionary income for loans borrowed after July 1, 2014 and 15% for loans borrowed before that date. Newer borrowers have a repayment term of 20 years, while those with older loans have a term of 25 years.
While many of the income-driven repayment plans will close in the coming years, IBR will remain open and available to current borrowers. The IBR plan forgives any outstanding balances at the end of the term. Borrowers who are currently on PAYE or ICR can switch to IBR and get credit for their payments.
Pay As You Earn (PAYE)
On the PAYE Plan, loan repayment takes place over 20 years. Payments are 10% of discretionary income, but never more than what the borrower would pay on the standard 10-year repayment plan.
However, while PAYE is currently available to borrowers, it’s set to close and won’t be accepting new enrollments on or after July 1, 2027. Since PAYE will be shutting down, borrowers have until July 1, 2028 to switch to Income-Based Repayment or the new Repayment Assistance Plan.
Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR)
The loan repayment term for the ICR Plan is 25 years. Loan payments can be either 20% of discretionary income or the value of what the borrower would pay on a fixed payment repayment plan over 12 years — whichever is lesser in value.
Like PAYE, ICR is set to close and will not accept new borrowers on or after July 1, 2027. Borrowers have until July 1, 2028 to switch to IBR or the new Repayment Assistance Plan.
Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP)
For borrowers taking out student loans on or after July 1, 2026, the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) is the only IDR plan available. RAP sets borrowers’ payments at 1% to 10% of their adjusted gross income (AGI) each year. It offers forgiveness after 30 years of payments.
Exploring Your Employee Benefits
Your job might be able to help with your student loan debt. Employer assistance for student loans was made available under the CARES Act in 2020, and it allowed tax-free payments per employee for up to $5,250 a year. Originally, this assistance was set to expire after December 31, 2025, but it was made permanent by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The amount will remain at $5,250 per employee per year until 2027, when it will be adjusted for inflation.
Refinance Your Student Loans With SoFi
Some borrowers may want to consider refinancing student loans to ideally secure a lower interest rate, which could reduce the amount of money they’ll owe over the life of the loan. It’s also possible to adjust the repayment term — however, while extending the term will generally result in lower payments, it may increase interest costs over the life of the loan.
Refinancing at SoFi is easy — it only takes a few minutes to fill out an online application. Qualifying borrowers may secure competitive interest rates, and there are flexible term options and no fees required. Just keep in mind that refinancing federal loans means losing access to federal repayment plans, forgiveness programs, and other benefits.
FAQ
What is the average student loan term?
The average student loan term varies. The loan term of the Standard Repayment Plan for federal student loans issued before July 1, 2026, is 10 years. The loan term of the new Tiered Standard Plan for federal loans issued on or after July 1, 2026, is 10 to 25 years. However, the average student loan borrower takes about 20 years to pay off their student loan debt, according to the Education Data Initiative.
How long are federal student loan terms?
Federal student loan terms vary from 10 to 30 years. Specifically, the term for the Standard Repayment Plan for student loans issued before July 1, 2026, is 10 years, while the new Tiered Standard Plan term for loans issued on or after July 1, 2026, is 10 to 25 years. There are several other federal repayment plans, including income-driven plans, with terms that range from 20 to 30 years.
How long are private student loan terms?
Private student loan terms vary by lender, but they typically range from five to 20 years. A borrower’s exact loan payoff term depends on their specific loan and lender.
What is the average time to pay off student loans?
The average student loan borrower takes 20 years to pay off their student loans, according to the Education Data Initiative. However, this timeline can vary based on factors such as the type of repayment plan and interest.
Can you change your student loan term after borrowing?
Yes. If you have federal loans, you can change your loan term at any time by switching to another repayment plan. Just contact your loan servicer about switching plans. If you have private student loans, you may need to refinance to change your loan term. Contact your lender for more information.
SoFi Student Loan Refinance
Terms and conditions apply. SOFI RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY OR DISCONTINUE PRODUCTS AND BENEFITS AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE. SoFi Private Student loans are subject to program terms and restrictions, such as completion of a loan application and self-certification form, verification of application information, the student's at least half-time enrollment in a degree program at a SoFi-participating school, and, if applicable, a co-signer. In addition, borrowers must be U.S. citizens or other eligible status, be residing in the U.S., Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, or American Samoa, and must meet SoFi’s underwriting requirements, including verification of sufficient income to support your ability to repay. Not all repayment options may be available for all loans. Minimum loan amount is $1,000. See SoFi.com/eligibility for more information. Lowest rates reserved for the most creditworthy borrowers. SoFi reserves the right to modify eligibility criteria at any time. This information is current as of 3/2/2026 and is subject to change. SoFi Private Student loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. NMLS #696891. (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org).
SoFi Loan Products
Terms and conditions apply. SoFi Refinance Student Loans are private loans. When you refinance federal loans with a SoFi loan, YOU FORFEIT YOUR ELIGIBILITY FOR ALL FEDERAL LOAN BENEFITS, including all flexible federal repayment and forgiveness options that are or may become available to federal student loan borrowers including, but not limited to: Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), Income-Based Repayment, Income-Contingent Repayment, extended repayment plans, PAYE or SAVE. Lowest rates reserved for the most creditworthy borrowers. Learn more at SoFi.com/eligibility. SoFi Refinance Student Loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. NMLS #696891 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org).
SoFi Private Student Loans
Please borrow responsibly. SoFi Private Student loans are not a substitute for federal loans, grants, and work-study programs. We encourage you to evaluate all your federal student aid options before you consider any private loans, including ours. Read our FAQs.
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