If you have federal student loans, you can enroll in an Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan, which may make your monthly payments more affordable. That’s because the amount is calculated based on your discretionary income and family size.
Income-Driven Repayment is the umbrella term for several federal repayment programs. (Income-based repayment, on the other hand, refers to one specific IDR plan.) Once you are enrolled in an IDR plan, you will need to recertify annually, by providing updated information about your income and family size — essentially reapplying for the plan. The government uses this information to calculate your payment amount and adjust it if necessary.
You can easily recertify an IDR plan. Read on to find out when to recertify income-driven repayment, how to do it, and upcoming changes to IDR plans you should be aware of.
Table of Contents
Key Points
• Income-driven repayment plans require annual recertification to either reconfirm or update information on income and family size to adjust payment amounts if necessary.
• Recertifying ensures monthly student loan payments remain manageable by reflecting current income and family size.
• Failing to recertify by the annual deadline will likely result in higher monthly payments, reverting borrowers to the amount they would pay under the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan.
• Individuals can opt for automatic recertification by providing consent for the Education Department to access their tax information, or they can fill out a form manually.
• Required documents for recertification typically include proof of income, such as recent tax returns or current pay stubs, for verification purposes.
What Is Income-Driven Repayment?
Income-driven repayment currently encompasses three different repayment plans. These plans are available to federal student loan borrowers to help make their payments more manageable. It’s an option to keep in mind when choosing a loan or if your current federal loan payments are high relative to your income. The program is intended to make the amount you pay on your student loan each month more affordable.
Under the “One Big Beautiful Bill” signed into law by President Trump, the options for income-driven plans will be changing over the next few years. Currently, however, the three income-driven repayment programs offered for federal student loans are:
• Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Repayment Plan
• Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan
• Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan
For all of these plans, your monthly payment amount is based on a percentage of your discretionary income and the size of your family.
An income-driven plan also extends your loan term to 20 or 25 years. On the IBR plan, borrowers are eligible to get any remaining balance on their loan forgiven after that time.
Recommended: Guide to Student Loan Forgiveness
Which Federal Loans Are Eligible for an Income-Driven Repayment Plan?
IDR plans are available for the following types of federal loans:
• Direct PLUS Loans made to graduate or professional students
• Direct Consolidation Loans that did not repay any PLUS loans made to parents
• Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans
• Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans
• FFEL PLUS Loans made to graduate or professional students
• FFEL Consolidation Loans that did not repay any PLUS loans made to parents
• Federal Perkins Loans, if these student loans are consolidated.
Private student loans are not eligible for IDR plans. For borrowers who are struggling to make their monthly payments on private loans, one option they may want to consider is student loan refinancing. With refinancing, you replace your old loans with one new loan. Ideally, the refinanced loan has a lower interest rate, which can lower monthly payments and save a borrower money.
Using a student loan refinancing calculator can be helpful to see how much refinancing might save you.
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How Monthly Payments Are Calculated Under IDR Plans
On an IDR plan, your monthly payment amount is generally based on a percentage of your discretionary income, which is defined by the Education Department as “the difference between your annual income and 150% of the poverty guideline for your family size and state of residence.”
Below is a look at how monthly payments are calculated under each plan. You can also use the office of Federal Student Aid’s Loan Simulator tool to see what your payments would be for each of the plans.
Also, it’s important to be aware that the PAYE and ICR plans are currently available to borrowers, but they are set to close to new enrollments on or after July 1, 2027. Borrowers already on these plans have until July 1, 2028, to switch to the IBR plan or the new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP).
The IBR Plan
As noted above, while most of the other IDR plans will close in 2027, IBR will remain open to current borrowers.
On Income-Based Repayment, borrowers pay 10% of their discretionary income each month for a 20-year term if they first borrowed after July 1, 2014. (The monthly percentage is 15% with a 25-year repayment term for those who borrowed before that date.)
Any remaining balance owed at the end of the loan term will be forgiven on IBR. Although the PAYE and ICR plans no longer offer loan forgiveness, a borrower can get credit for their PAYE and ICR payments if they switch to IBR.
The PAYE Plan
To be eligible for PAYE, an individual must be a new borrower as of October 1, 2007, and have received a Direct loan disbursement on or after October 1, 2011. In addition, a borrower’s monthly payment on the plan must be less than what it would be on the Standard 10-year plan.
On PAYE, monthly payments are 10% of a borrower’s discretionary income, and the loan term is 20 years.
PAYE is currently open, but it’s closing down on July 1, 2027. Borrowers already on the plan will have until July 1, 2028 to switch to the IBR plan or the new plan, RAP.
The ICR Plan
The income-contingent repayment plan sets a borrower’s payments at 20% of their discretionary income and has a repayment term of 25 years. This is the only income-driven option for borrowers with Parent PLUS loans — and those loans must be consolidated first.
ICR closes to new enrollees on July 1, 2027, and those currently on the plan have until July 1, 2028 to switch to IBR or RAP. Otherwise, they will automatically be moved to RAP.
Recommended: Student Loan Repayment Calculator
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The New RAP Plan
The RAP program is scheduled to launch in the summer of 2026. Here are details on how the plan works.
How RAP Differs From Other IDR Plans
Unlike the existing IDR plans that use discretionary income, RAP will base a borrower’s payments on their adjusted gross income (AGI). Depending on their income, they’ll pay 1% to 10% of their AGI over a term of up to 30 years.
If they still owe money after 30 years, the rest will be forgiven. The federal government will cover unpaid interest and ensure that the loan’s principal goes down by at least $50 each month.
All borrowers are required to pay at least $10 per month on RAP. This plan may offer lower monthly payments than the current IDR options, but borrowers might also pay more interest over the life of the loan due to the longer repayment term.
Eligibility and Enrollment in the RAP Plan
To be eligible for RAP, you must have Federal Direct Loans, Federal Family Education Loans, or Grad PLUS loans (Parent PLUS borrowers are ineligible for RAP). Qualifying loans may be subsidized or unsubsidized.
As of July 1, 2026, new borrowers can enroll in RAP, if they choose. It will be the only income-driven plan available to them. Existing borrowers will be able to choose RAP or IBR.
Borrowers will enroll in RAP through StudentAid.gov. Details about the application process are not yet available; information is likely to be released closer to the July 1, 2026 launch date. Watch for updates from your loan servicer, and check the Student Aid website.
What Is Student Loan Recertification?
Since your current IDR plan is based on your income and the size of your family, you need to reconfirm or recertify these details every year.
When you apply for or recertify an income-driven repayment plan online, the Education Department will ask you for consent to access your tax information. If you give consent, they will automatically recertify your loan every year.
If you choose to recertify manually, you will need to fill out the online form and upload the requested documentation, or print out a PDF and mail it along with the documentation to your loan servicer.
If your financial situation changes ahead of your recertification date — for instance, if you lose your job — you can reach out to your loan servicer and ask them to immediately recalculate your payments.
Why Recertification Matters
Recertification is important because it ensures that your monthly student loan payments are based on your current income and family size, which may help keep your payments manageable. Also, if you fail to recertify, your payments will likely go up — see details about that below.
How to Recertify Income-Driven Repayments
You can apply for income-driven repayments and recertify your status by going online to StudentAid.gov. Filing your application online ensures that it is sent to each of your loan servicers if you have more than one. Alternatively, you may send paper applications to each of your loan servicers.
Steps for Online and Mail Recertification
To file online, go to StudentAid.gov and log in with your FSA ID. Click on “Manage Your Income-Driven Repayment Plan.”
Verify your family size, marital status, income, and spouse’s income, if applicable. If your income has changed since your last tax return, you can upload more recent pay stubs. You can also give consent for the Education Department to access your tax information, allowing automatic recertification in the future.
To recertify by mail, you can download the Income-Driven Repayment Plan Request form on the Student Aid website. Fill out the form and attach the required documents. You’ll send the request to the address provided by your loan servicer.
What Documents Are Required for Recertification
The documents required for recertification are proof of income, such as your most recent tax return or pay stubs. Unless you have chosen automatic recertification, you will need to manually upload these documents for your loan servicer.
When to Recertify Income-Driven Repayment Plans
Your IDR plan recertification deadline is the date one year after you start or renew an IDR plan. Your loan servicer will send you a notification of your upcoming recertification deadline along with the actions (if any) you need to take; you will also receive notices from StudentAid.gov.
If your income has decreased or your family status has changed, you may want to recertify before your annual deadline. You can fill out a recertification form at any time if you’re struggling to make your payments because your financial situation has changed.
What Happens If You Miss the Recertification Deadline?
If you fail to recertify your IBR plan by the annual deadline, you will remain on your current IDR plan, but your monthly payment will switch to the amount you would pay under the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan, which will likely increase your payments.
You’ll be able to make payments based on your income once again when you recertify and update your income information with your loan servicer.
The Takeaway
Income-Driven Repayment plans, which are available to many federal student loan borrowers, can be a way to help make student loan repayments work with a borrower’s budget. Recertification is a critical step borrowers need to take each year to either verify their information or inform the Education Department of changes to their situation that might affect their payment size.
Refinancing is another option some borrowers may want to consider to help manage their student loan debt, especially those with private student loans that don’t qualify for IDR plans or federal benefits and programs.
Looking to lower your monthly student loan payment? Refinancing may be one way to do it — by extending your loan term, getting a lower interest rate than what you currently have, or both. (Please note that refinancing federal loans makes them ineligible for federal forgiveness and protections. Also, lengthening your loan term may mean paying more in interest over the life of the loan.) SoFi student loan refinancing offers flexible terms that fit your budget.
FAQ
Can you recertify student loans early?
Federal student loan borrowers who are on an income-driven repayment plan can recertify early, which you may want to do if your family has grown or your income has decreased. Otherwise, you need to recertify your loans once a year.
How do I recertify my student loans?
You can recertify your student loans online at the Federal Student Aid website (studentaid.gov), or by downloading and mailing in the Income-Driven Repayment Plan Request form with any supporting documentation. If you mail in the request, you’ll need to send a copy to each of your loan servicers. You can also opt to have your recertification happen automatically every year by giving consent for the Education Department to access your tax information.
When should I recertify my student loans?
Your recertification date is the date one year after you started or renewed your IDR plan. Your loan servicers will send you a notice in advance that it’s time to recertify your loan. The Student Aid website should also send you notices about recertification.
What documents do I need to recertify my IDR plan?
Unless you’ve opted for automatic recertification, you will need to provide proof of income, such as your most recent tax return or pay stubs, when you recertify your IDR plan. You will need to manually upload these documents for your loan servicer.
What if my income has changed since my last recertification?
If your income has changed since your last recertification, you can submit updated information, along with supporting documents such as pay stubs, so that your payments can be recalculated. You can do this at any time through your account on StudentAid.gov or directly to your loan servicer.
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