ECFR 221 IBR Program 

1. Qualifying Loan Types 

• FFEL 
• All Federal Direct Loans 

• Perkins if consolidated into FFEL or Direct Loan 

2. Not Qualified Loan Types 

• Defaulted loan 
• A FFEL or Direct PLUS Loan made to a parent borrower,  

• A FFEL or Direct Consolidation Loan that repaid a FFEL or Direct PLUS Loan made to a parent borrower. 

3. Qualifying Origination Dates 

1. All origination dates prior to July 1^st, 2014 

2. All origination dates on or after July 1^st, 2014 

4. Term of Program 

1. 12-month repayment period 

2. 240 to 300 Qualifying payments 

5. Requirements 

• A borrower may select the income-based repayment plan only if the borrower has a partial financial hardship which is proven through the family size calculation.  
• For QOD Section A. The borrower’s total monthly loan payments are limited to 15% of a borrower’s discretionary income determined by the poverty guidelines, which are determined by the state the borrower lives in. 
• For QOD Section B. The borrower’s total monthly loan payments are limited to 10% of a borrower’s discretionary income determined by the poverty guidelines, which are determined by the state the borrower lives in. 
• A borrowers monthly payment amount will never be higher than a 10-year standard repayment plan which is calculated using the loan amount the borrower had at the time the borrower entered the IBR program. 

6. Eligibility 

• A borrower cannot have an outstanding balance on a Direct Loan or FFEL Loan.  
• Provide documentation, acceptable to the Secretary, of the borrower’s AGI to determine financial hardship.  

• If the borrower’s AGI is not available, or the Secretary believes that the borrower’s reported AGI does not reasonably reflect the borrower’s current income, provide other documentation to verify income. 

• Annually, a borrower must re-certify their family size and AGI. If the borrower fails to certify their family size, the Secretary assumes a family size of one for that year. 

• A borrower will be given a deadline to recertify their family size and AGI that can be no sooner than 35 days from the end date of the borrowers 12-month program.  

7. Payment application 

• Payments are applied under the income-based repayment plan in the following order:  

• (i) Accrued interest.  
• (ii) Collection costs.  
• (iii) Late charges.  
• (iv) Loan principal.  

• The borrower may prepay all or part of a loan at any time without penalty, 

8. Loan Forgiveness 

• Section 3(A) of this outline – To qualify for loan forgiveness a borrower must make payments for 240 months. 
• Section 3(B) of this outline – To qualify for loan forgiveness a borrower must make payments for 300 months. 

• All payments that are made during a default period do not count as a qualifying payment against the borrower’s term.