How to Get Help With Student Loans

Many people believe that a college degree unlocks doors and paves the way for higher earning potential. That may be true, but all too often, college degrees come with considerable student loan debt.

Most people repay their student loans over many years. But even if you thought you could manage your payments right after you graduated, circumstances can change.

What happens if you’re struggling to make payments? Help is available, but it’s sometimes hard to find.

What kind of help is available for student loans?

Fortunately, many federal and individual lender programs offer student loan help. It’s generally easier to find help for federal student loan repayment than for private loan repayment.

Read more >> Student loans explained: What you need to know

Federal student loan repayment plans

In recent years, there have been several legislative changes to student loan assistance options. These are some of the main repayment plans available:

Standard repayment

Standard repayment plans have fixed monthly payments. Originally, all standard repayment plans lasted 10 years. However, if your loan was disbursed in July 2026 or later, you might qualify for tiered standard repayment plans. These plans adjust the loan term depending on the amount you need to repay.

Income-driven repayment (IDR) plans

IDR plans adjust your loan payments based on your income and family size. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) sharply narrowed the options, and not only for future borrowers. Two income-driven plans remain:

1. Income-based repayment (IBR) — for borrowers with no loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2026. Payments run 10% to 15% of discretionary income depending on when you first borrowed, capped at what you’d owe on the 10-year standard plan. Remaining balances are forgiven after 20 or 25 years.
2. Repayment assistance plan (RAP) — the only income-driven plan for loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2026. Payments run 1% to 10% of your adjusted gross income, with a $10 monthly minimum. Unpaid interest is waived rather than added to your balance, with remaining balances forgiven after 30 years.

Graduated and extended repayment

These plans are designed to provide more time to repay your loan or afford relatively low payments each month.

Graduated repayment starts with low payments that increase every two years, typically over a 10-year term. Extended repayment stretches the term to 25 years for lower payments but requires more than $30,000 in federal loan debt. Both plans are closed to any loan disbursed on or after July 1, 2026. (Those loans get the tiered standard plan or RAP instead.)

Generally, taking any new loan after the cutoff moves your entire balance onto the new plans. If all of your loans were disbursed before July 1, 2026, your access doesn’t expire.

Either way, know the tradeoff: a longer term means paying more interest overall.

Read more >> Do student loans affect your credit score?

Student loan forgiveness programs

Income-driven repayment plans will forgive your remaining debt after a certain time period of on-time payments. However, depending on your employer and the field you work in, you could potentially qualify for loan forgiveness much sooner.

Public service loan forgiveness (PSLF)

If you have federal student loans and work full-time for a government agency or a qualifying nonprofit, you might be eligible for PSLF. Qualifying employers include federal, state, local, and tribal government agencies and 501(c)3 organizations. You must make 120 payments under an eligible repayment plan, and they don’t have to be consecutive.

Most borrowers pursuing PSLF use an income-driven plan, since standard payments would pay off the loan before forgiveness kicks in.

Once you’ve made the necessary 120 payments, your remaining balance may be eligible for forgiveness if your employment and payments are certified and approved throughout the process.

Teacher loan forgiveness

Teacher loan forgiveness programs have caps on the amount of loan debt forgiven. But if you qualify, you could see some or all of your student debt wiped out in five years.

This program is for teachers who work full-time at a designated low-income school or educational agency with five consecutive years of service.

Math and science teachers at secondary schools may qualify to have up to $17,500 in student debt forgiven, as may special education teachers at either elementary or secondary schools. Other teachers may qualify for up to $5,000 in loan forgiveness.

Deferment and forbearance

If you’re dealing with a temporary health crisis or financial issue, you might wonder how to get help with student loans for a short period of time. Deferment and forbearance were designed to do just that.

Some people use these terms interchangeably, but there are meaningful differences between the two.

When to use deferment

Deferment is a pause in loan payments that’s usually granted because of a specific hardship. These are a few situations where you may qualify:

• You’re an active-duty member of the military
• You’re undergoing cancer treatment
• You’re in a rehabilitation program
• You’ve dropped to half-time enrollment

How long deferment lasts depends on the type. Economic hardship and unemployment deferments are capped at three years, while in-school deferment continues as long as you’re enrolled at least half-time.

If you have a federally subsidized loan, the federal government pays any interest that accrues during deferment. If you have unsubsidized loans, interest will continue to accrue.

When to use forbearance

If you don’t meet one of the specific criteria for deferment, loan forbearance may be an option. Forbearance is commonly used for general financial difficulties or other repayment challenges.

Forbearance may be extended up to three years, but many lenders will only grant it for 12 months at a time.

Notably, interest generally accrues during forbearance periods, even on subsidized loans. Check with your loan servicer to confirm how interest is handled under your specific forbearance type.

Risks of pausing payments

Deferment or forbearance can be enough to give you financial breathing room while you get back on your feet. However, they aren’t without risks.

If you have unsubsidized loans, interest that accrues during deferment capitalizes when your payments resume. That means the interest is added to your principal and you start paying interest on interest. Forbearance works differently since a ruling change took effect in July 2023: interest still accrues and you still owe it, but it’s no longer folded into your principal.

If you can, try to pay the interest that accumulated during deferment or forbearance before your payments resume. It may seem like a small step, but it can reduce what you pay over time.

Read more >> Does deferring student loans hurt your credit?

Refinancing and consolidation

Refinancing and consolidation are two valuable strategies for managing your student loan payments. In some cases, they may be helpful for paying down student debt.

Federal direct consolidation

If you have even one federal student loan, you can apply for a Direct Consolidation Loan for free. The interest rate on these loans isn’t determined by your credit score. Instead, it’s the weighted average of each loan’s interest rate, rounded up to the nearest 1/8 of a percent.

Consolidating doesn’t lower your interest rate, it averages your existing ones. And because it typically extends your repayment term, you often pay more total interest over the life of the loan. The payoff is simplicity, streamlining multiple payments into one and a lower payment, if you need it.

Private refinancing

If you have private student loans, refinancing may be a way to combine existing loans or secure better loan terms. It’s also a viable option if you want to remove a cosigner from your original loan.

Refinancing student loans works much like refinancing any other debt. You apply for a new loan, and if accepted, you use the new loan to pay off the old one.

Unlike most federal student loans, private loans take your credit score, credit history, and income into account. If you have a much better credit score than you did when you first took out your loan, you may be able to qualify for a lower interest rate.

If you’re thinking about refinancing but aren’t sure if you qualify, look for lenders who offer prequalification with a soft credit check. That way, you can see what rates you may qualify for without a hard inquiry on your report.

How to get help with student loans if you're already behind on payments

It’s best to reach out to your loan servicer and ask about forbearance or other options before you miss a payment. But if you’re already behind, you can still access student loan help.

Contact your loan servicer

If you’ve already missed one or more payments, get in touch with your loan servicer as soon as you can. Depending on how soon you call, you may be able to avoid having the delinquency reported to the credit bureaus, prevent your loan from going into default, or both.

How long it takes a missed payment to impact your credit score depends on the type of loan you have and your individual lender. These are some general timelines for federal student loans:

• 1 day after a missed payment, your loan is considered delinquent or past due
• 90 days after a missed payment, your lender likely starts reporting the delinquency to credit bureaus
• 270 days after a missed payment, your loan goes into default and enters the collections system for the Department of Education

Private student lenders usually start reporting delinquent loans to credit bureaus much sooner than federal lenders. Once your loan has been reported to credit bureaus, it can negatively affect your credit.

If you contact your loan servicer and tell them you’re having trouble paying, they should be able to explain your options.

Rehabilitation for defaulted loans

If you have a federal student loan that goes into default, you lose the borrower protections and repayment plan options offered by the Department of Education. However, if you undergo the federal loan rehabilitation process, you may be able to bring your loan out of collections and out of default.

Here’s how it works:

• You sign a rehabilitation agreement letter with your lender
• You make nine on-time payments within a 10-month period

If you satisfy the terms of your rehabilitation agreement, your loan should once again be in good standing. Keep in mind you can only rehabilitate a given loan once. If you’ve rehabilitated a loan and default again, consolidation or paying in full are often your only remaining options.

Unfortunately, there’s no universal rehabilitation process for defaulted private loans. Some individual lenders may have their own procedures for restoring past-due loans.

Read more >> What happens when you default on student loans?

How to protect your credit while managing student loans

Managing student loans can strain your finances. And if you start missing payments, your loans can cause serious credit damage, too. Some strategies may help you shield your credit as you work toward paying off debt.

Choose a manageable repayment plan

If you have federal student loans, take some time to review your repayment options. Shorter repayment terms typically mean less total interest paid, but short loan terms can result in high monthly payments you might have trouble repaying comfortably. The right term depends on your income and budget.

Put your loans on autopay

When life gets busy, it’s easy to forget to make loan payments. If you miss a payment and don’t catch up within a few days, you might find yourself dealing with credit damage and default.

Be proactive if you’re having trouble

Generally, lenders are more willing to work with you if you reach out to them before you miss a payment. If you’re dealing with financial hardship or think you might have trouble affording loan payments in the near future, start investigating how to get help with student loans as soon as possible.

Read more >> 9 ways to pay off student loans faster

Bottom line

The student loan landscape can be hard to navigate, and if you’re behind on other debts too, it’s easy to feel stuck. Income-driven plans, deferment, and forgiveness programs are designed to help.

Consider talking with a financial advisor or nonprofit credit counselor for guidance specific to your situation. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) offers free or low-cost counseling at 1-800-388-2227.

Building your credit with Kikoff

Federal student loans report to the credit bureaus, so getting into a plan you can actually afford both keeps your payments manageable and your credit intact. Staying current matters more than the balance does.

Kikoff's Credit Account reports your on-time payments to all three credit bureaus, helping you build payment history alongside whatever you're already carrying. No hard credit check required.