I left college in 2014 with about $44000 worth of loans--$30000 federal, $14000 from the school itself. Joined Peace Corps in 2015, and after 2 years, I got about $3000 cancelled from my Federal Perkins Loans through the school.

Interest had accrued quite a bit by the time I left Peace Corps in 2017, and I'd been on $0 payments through plans like PAYE and SAVE, and applying for Forbearance here and there.

After Peace Corps, I continued to work in the country that I served in and steadily chipped away at the higher interest loans (7% from the school, 6.8% for some of the later federal loans). The housing provided by my employer here meant that I didn't have to pay rent, so all of my salary could be divided into just savings and food/entertainment. Once I had just lower interest loans (3.4-3.8%) left, I began building up my emergency fund and just making smaller payments of ~$500/month.

This month, I had a balance of $5500 left and since I had been saving up money to buy an apartment in this country, I decided to just cut the debt out of the equation and finish it off.

In total, with an initially balance of $44000, I think I ended up paying about $20000 in interest over these 12 years.

It's such a big relief because while I was in Peace Corps, I had many sleepless nights where I wondered how I would ever get such a huge amount of money paid off. I know that I was rather fortunate to not have to take out a huge amount in comparison to some of the posts I've seen here, but this is still a massive accomplishment for me. Good luck to everyone else--you can do it!

I thought it waived all interest that your payment didn’t cover. So why do I owe $100 more this month than last month? It’s in unpaid interest. I checked the statement.

I checked all my statements while under RAP. It’s grown by about $100 each month, with nothing being waived.

Hi everyone,

I’m a first-generation optometrist who graduated in 2025 and started working full-time in August 2026. I’m an only child and financially support disabled parents. I don’t have anyone in my family who’s navigated this kind of debt, and honestly, trying to figure it all out on my own has been giving me crippling anxiety.

My financial situation:

Income:
Gross salary: $150K/year
Monthly take-home: $8,400
Savings/emergency fund: $4,000
Private employer (not eligible for PSLF)

Student loans:
Federal (Aidvantage): $290K at 5–9% interest, including approximately $100K at 8%.
Currently in SAVE forbearance and exploring repayment options, including RAP.
ECSI: $70K at 7% fixed interest, with an $850 monthly minimum.
Total debt: ~$360K

Monthly expenses:
Housing and financial support for my parents: $3,500
ECSI minimum payment: $850
Remaining: ~$4,050/month before personal expenses and federal loan payments.

My biggest concern is the interest. I want to aggressively pay down my loans, but I’m terrified of making payments for years while my balance continues growing.

My questions:
If you were in my position, how would you tackle $360K in student loans? What repayment strategy would minimize interest accumulation?
Would you prioritize the $100K in federal loans at 8% or the $70K ECSI loan at 7%? Should I focus extra payments on the highest-interest loans while paying the minimum on everything else?

How much would you realistically put toward loans each month? Would an additional $2K–$3K be reasonable? Is refinancing worth considering, or should I keep my federal protections?

Would it be worth speaking with a financial advisor or student loan counselor? Are there any nonprofit organizations or trustworthy resources that could help me navigate my options and create a realistic repayment plan? I’d really appreciate any recommendations.

I worked so hard to get here, and it’s honestly heartbreaking to feel like I’m drowning in debt before I’ve even had a chance to enjoy what I’ve accomplished. I don’t have anyone to turn to for financial guidance, and I’m genuinely asking for help.

Any advice would mean a lot. Thank you for reading.

UPDATE: Thank you everyone for the advice. Just wanted to clarify a few things.

First, I genuinely appreciate everyone who took the time to respond, especially those who shared their own experiences with significant student loan debt. I’ve been working and slowly making my way through the comments, and there are a lot more responses than I expected! I really appreciate everyone who took the time to offer advice.

I wanted to clarify a few things since I’ve noticed some recurring questions and assumptions.

Regarding my parents and the $3,500 monthly expense:

The $3,500 includes our monthly rent, utilities, and household expenses. I live in an apartment with my parents, so this isn’t simply $3,500 that I’m handing over to them every month.

There are a lot of personal circumstances that have brought my family to where we are today, and honestly, it’s not something I can fully explain in a Reddit post. My family and I have been fortunate to receive support from relatives during some difficult years while I was working toward finishing school, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.

I understand that some people are looking at this strictly from a financial perspective, and I respect that. But supporting my parents isn’t something I’m looking to eliminate from my budget. There are responsibilities and circumstances behind that decision that go beyond finances, and while I don’t expect everyone to understand, it’s something that’s important to me. I’m simply trying to figure out how to manage my student loans responsibly while continuing to provide stability for my family.

Lastly, I want to address one thing.

I noticed some comments questioning my professional title and whether an optometrist should be considered a “doctor”. Respectfully, that’s not why I made this post. I came here seeking financial advice about a significant amount of student loan debt, not to debate professional titles or the legitimacy of my degree.

Again, thank you to everyone who offered thoughtful and constructive advice.I know I have a long road ahead of me, and I’m not expecting an easy solution. I’m just trying to make informed decisions, become financially stable, and build a better future for myself and my family.

I truly appreciate everyone who took the time to help.

I wanted to share my experience for anyone still clinging onto the SAVE plan or stressing about switching to a different income-driven repayment plan before their deadline.

My hard deadline to opt out of SAVE was October 12th. Like many of you, the waiting game was causing a lot of anxiety, and I never received any of the 30-day extension notices that some borrowers have reported getting.

Because of the radio silenzzze and the upcoming cutoff, I decided to take action:

• October 7th: I submitted my application to switch from SAVE to the PAYE plan (even though PAYE is currently scheduled to sunset in 2027).
• October 14th: Just 7 days later, I received official email confirmation that my application was accepted.

If you are on the fence and the waiting is keeping you up at night, the processing times might be faster than expected.

I just made my last student loan payment! 25k paid off after graduating December 2024. I was fortunate enough to live at home and hammer it out, and it feels great. That’s all 😁

Anyone else have their Save plan deadline this week? Mine is tomorrow and not sure whether to wait for the FSA 30 day extension or apply today. What is everyone due this week doing?

Got the notices, checked the options and applied for a new IBR. Called and spoke with Mohela over the phone to go over options because new IBR is nearly $500/month which I cannot afford.
I have been in public service since graduating with my bachelors and then masters. I have roughly 53 qualified payments so far.
Person on phone said my only options are the $500/month IBR OR relinquish my PSLF and get on graduated payment plan at roughly $250/month (which is still very difficult for me to afford). They said auto payments will begin 11/12/2026.
Anyone else going through this and have any ideas? I’m really worried.

Hi! I attended the Art Institute in Miami from 2021-2023 and finished my program in June 2023 just months before the school closed. Because I graduated I think I dont qualify for the closed school discharge, so I wanted to apply for borrowers defense, I had no idea of the recent limitation of 3 years after graduation to apply, just found out and 3 years was this june! Am I completely doomed if I apply for borrowers defense now 3 months after my deadline or should I still try and apply since it hasnt been that long?

I logged into my MOHELA portal, and I don't have any new communication aside from a 7/29 notice about having 90 days to pick a new plan. I'm seeing people post here about getting an extension sent from their servicer that they don't have to switch until 12/31. Is that actually happening?

On a different front, there's no way I can even uncomfortably afford a loan payment right now. I'm coming off 6 months of unemployment earlier this year, and rapidly trying to pay down credit debt and get out of a float so I can rebuild my savings — I have a lot of medical expenses that put me in the hole alongside not having a job. I now have a good paying job in my field, so things are stable, but I'm bailing myself out every month as is until I hit 3 paycheck December.

Is forbearance even an option? I'm one of the REPAYE borrowers forced onto SAVE, and my stomach just twisted looking at how any progress I made toward my loans was wiped out by the interest reduction being suspended. My current balances are now surpassing my original balance. I'm seeking PSLF, so it's ultimately a non-issue, but irritating nonetheless.

New to RAP. Currently monthly payment is $240 and interest is $700. At MOHELA, my September payment via autopay triggered the interest subsidy and principal pay down, but the October payment on the same autopay did not.

Anyone have experience with this bug?

I read that there's no limit on how many times you can change your federal student loan repayment plan. Servicer’s can put you in processing forbearance (up to 60 days) while a plan is changed.

In theory, what's stopping someone from switching RAP → Standard → RAP over and over and staying in forbearance? Is there an actual rule or servicer policy against it, or just practical downsides like accruing interest and no forgiveness credit?

If I don’t care about interest or PSLF, and want to buy myself 6-8 months, why not just log on every other month and switch plans?

I start paying my grad school loans next month. Not happy with the $460 payment amount, but I accepted it and moved forward with the idr plan. For me, idr and RAF are the exact same amount each month, so really I could make no wrong choice in selecting either ibr plan. A few days go by, and I’m get a notice that my idr new payment has been set at $860 (which was the standard 10 year payment plan amount) and the standard payment has been bumped to $1070. Ha WTF. Called edfinancial and the lady I talked to calculated the exact same numbers I was originally quoted at 465. So now, I wait 7-10 more business days to see if the adjustment is made by their idr team ? Thank the lord I took screenshots. And had all my tax numbers ready and down to the penny for the phone call. But seriously, what the actual f is going on with this system ?

I think I’m between IBR and RAP plans but I’ve been avoiding choosing until forced and am in no rush to pay these off because I’m aware I’m going to be paying ~forever~ and resent the whole thing in the first place.

For context I am married filed jointly. My spouse has no student loans. We have no dependents and will not have any children.

But the pros and cons for these plans that I’ve been reading are confusing. Will anything be forgiven after 240-300 payments? Will I have a “tax bomb?” Why is my RAP end of term date sooner than IBR when it seems everyone else’s is later? Is RAP a scam?

My repayment calculator gives the following:
(Btw vs SAVE monthly payment was $305 🫠)

IBR:
Monthly payment: $1,047
Total to be paid: $228,054
Principal paid: $125,783
Interest paid: $102,271
End of term date: April 2041

RAP:
Monthly payment: $1,318
Total to be paid: $205,546
Principal paid: $125,782
Interest paid: $79,746
End of term date: November 2037

So yeah how do I get loan rehabilitated and go on the repayment assistance plan (RAP)

Been putting this off for too long just need to get on a plan, and also soon I’ll be able to pay off a big chunk of my loan in one go so just need to do something to hold off the loans

staying in SAVE until they kick me off.

My current monthly payment is still $0. Need to start paying about $100/month to stop interest accrual but probably can't until January. Wondering if I can still enroll in autopay to get the 1% interest perk even though my payments are $0?

My loans are 2700 monthly and after expenses I’m left with 2 k a month. Due to student loan payments picking up and everything becoming expensive I’m 13k in the hole right now on credit card debt.

Is there any way I can pause paying student loans? It’s hopeless anyway because I won’t be making a dent in any of it anyway.

This is an income based repayment plan.

I’m getting anxious and thinking about switching but I’m curious if they’ve automatically switched people?

I had to submit this today, so pissed. Was in PSLF for years as a librarian, they consolidated my loans without my consent and said the ones i had paid were no longer eligible for PSLF and since they consolidated them and sold them to a new servicer i would have to start over. Sick of this nonsense, I got out of public service to make a living wage so all my PSLF was for nothing and now this craziness. We treat our vets and students like shit:

I submitted an IDR application through StudentAid.gov and explicitly selected the option to leave my loans in their existing deferment/forbearance rather than begin repayment immediately.

I have now received a notice dated October 13 stating that my RAP payment of $154.97 begins November 11, 2026. The notice also lists a future payment of $641.39 beginning November 11, 2027.

Please verify my current loan status and the instructions received with my IDR application. I did not intend to end my existing forbearance or begin repayment immediately. If my forbearance has been ended, please explain why and tell me how to request correction. Please also explain why my payment is scheduled to increase to $641.39 and whether that amount reflects a standard-payment fallback if annual income recertification is not completed.

I need written confirmation of my current status, my next required payment date, and the steps needed to resolve any discrepancy.

I never received the specific “90 day deadline” notice, but received this exact text today:

“This is Aidvantage. Action Needed! Don't delay. The SAVE Plan has ended, so it's time to choose a new repayment plan by October 26 at StudentAid.gov. New options may be available. Miss the deadline, and you could be placed in a plan that ignores your income and costs you more each month. Reply STOP to opt out or HELP for help.”

What’s with the random October 26th date? Very confused, if anyone has any insight. I assumed I had more time than that since I hadn’t received my 90 days.

Had a credit score of 830, but it dropped down to 780 when I paid off my loans. That’s a 50 point drop overnight!

Possible to push it back up to 820 on credit cards alone? I don’t ever carry a balance, and am currently 100% debt free. I figure credit score to be helpful when we buy a house soon.

I called my servicer (edfinancial) two weeks ago to have them put my loans in extended fixed but I called back today to see how that was coming and was told nothing was on my account for this or under my SSN, which turns out apparently a ticket was never put in only a note. has this ever happened to anyone? did they quite literally never put my application through?

when i was on the phone with them today they then actually entered a ticket for me today. how can i ensure they dont do this again?

I paid off my loans today 107k undergrad and MBA...nobody to tell so im posting here 🤪

I am on deferment for being unemployed and called MOHELA today. I was on hold for 2 hours and 35 minutes because you can’t do it yourself online. The representative but in the request to end early and said it could take up to 120 days. How long has it actually taken for deferment to end after requesting?

I know I can make manual payments, but I’m going for PSFL and only have about 36 months left, and I’m pretty certain my loans have to be in repayment to qualify for PSFL. And payments would go to interest first is what the rep told me.