Student Loan Repayment

• Federal Stafford Loans (subsidized and unsubsidized)
• Federal Grad PLUS Loans
  (not available for repayment of Parent PLUS Loans)
• Federal Consolidation Loans
  (not available for repayment of  Consolidation Loans that included payoff of a Parent PLUS)

• Your payment is based on:
• Adjusted Gross Income
• Household size
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Poverty Guideline for your state of residence
• If you have partial financial hardship, your annual loan payment will be 15% of “disposable” income (monthly payments will be 1/12 of that amount)

To apply for IBR with Access Group, you download the Access Group IBR Application Packet (PDF) and Form 4506-T.

Return completed documents to:

Fax: (302) 476-3555

Mail:
Access Group Loan Servicing
P.O. Box 7450
Wilmington DE 19803-7450

Partial Financial Hardship - Annual amount due on all your eligible loans or, if you are married and file a joint federal income tax return, the annual amount due on all your eligible loans and your spouse’s eligible loans, exceeds 15% of the difference between your adjustable gross income (AGI) as shown on your federal income tax return and 150% of the poverty guideline amount for your family size.

The annual amount of payments due is calculated based on the GREATER OF:
1) the total amount owed on eligible loans at the time those loans initially entered repayment OR
2) the total amount owed on eligible loans at the time you or, if applicable, your spouse requested the IBR Plan.

Disposable income - that portion of household adjusted gross income (AGI) that exceeds 150% of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Annual Poverty Guideline for your household size and state of residence.

Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) - This is the adjusted gross income from your previous year’s federal tax return. For the purposes of IBR, household AGI includes the AGI of the borrower and the AGI of borrower’s spouse if married and if filing a joint federal income tax return (does NOT include spouse’s AGI if couple files separate federal income tax returns).

Household size – Calculated by counting the borrower, spouse (if married), dependent children residing in household (including an unborn child), and other dependents living in household who receive at least 50% of their support from borrower. This does not depend on tax filing status.

Federal Poverty Line – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services establishes the federal poverty guidelines annually in January. This information is used to determine eligibility for a number of federal programs including the IBR plan.

Standard-Standard Repayment Plan – A fixed monthly payment amount calculated using a 10-year repayment period, based on the loan principal when the loan first enters repayment.

Permanent-Standard Repayment Plan – A fixed monthly payment amount calculated using a 10-year repayment period, based on the loan balance outstanding at the time a borrower first enters the Income-Based Repayment Plan.

Expedited-Standard Repayment Plan – Expedited standard plan is used when the borrower chooses to EXIT the IBR plan. A fixed monthly payment amount calculated based on the debt remaining amortized over the number of months remaining in the original 10-year period that began when the loan first entered repayment. In other words, you subtract the number of months the loan has already been in repayment (including the months in IBR) from the original length of the Standard Repayment period that was available for the loan (10 years for Stafford, Grad PLUS and SLS loans; 30 years or whatever was the original repayment period for Consolidation.

Economically challenged – to be “economically challenged,” you must have used Income-Based Repayment during a portion of the repayment period, AND when not in the Income-Based Repayment Plan you:

• Made monthly loan payments using Income Contingent Repayment (ICR), or
• Made monthly payments at least equal to the “Standard-Standard” amount, or
• Were in an Economic Hardship Deferment.

• Once in IBR plan, monthly payment is lesser of:
  • Amount calculated based on Standard 10-year fixed plan when you enter IBR (“Permanent-Standard” amount), and
  • Amount calculated using the IBR formula (“PFH” amount). To determine whether you have “partial financial hardship” PFH, use this calculator at Mapping Your Future.
• Monthly payment can be less than accrued interest (it allows for negative amortization)
• Unpaid interest accruing on subsidized Stafford debt is subsidized by the federal government for up to first 3 years in IBR plan
• Repayment period for IBR plan can extend beyond 10 years regardless of amount of eligible debt, however the payment amount will be based on a 10 year repayment term.
• If you choose to leave IBR you initially must use the Standard Repayment Plan. If you choose to enter a different repayment plan, upon approval, it will take 1-2 billing cycles for the change in your monthly payment amount to take effect.