You’ve already got student loans, and you need help with them.
You’re wondering—could you lower the monthly payment you make on your student loans by getting an Income-Driven Repayment Plan?
Or is this called an Income-BASED Repayment Plan?
Or—wait—is it called a “Pay As you Earn” (PAYE) repayment plan? Or—hang on—is it called an Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan?
What about the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan? Was that the one blocked by a U.S. appeals court?
Is Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) still a thing?
Would consolidating your different federal student loans into one federal student loan make sense in your case? (This can be a good idea—as long as you keep as many of your student loans in the federal loan program as possible.)
What if you’re already on an Income-Driven Repayment Plan, and you need to re-certify to keep your payments low, but the federal government website where you do that has been shut down? (Read on and I’ll give you help with that.)
The rules that govern your student loans seem to be changing so fast—it’s hard to keep up.
Who can help with questions you have about your existing student loans?
One option is to go to the official Federal Student Aid website, click on the owl icon at the bottom of any page, and ask Aiden (the AI-driven financial aid virtual assistant) whatever questions you have about your current student loans. (Aiden can help you reach your loan servicer, who might have answers for you.)
Or . . .
Meet the nonprofit organization that helps students (and former students) sort through the questions they have about their existing student loans.
When I’ve got questions like this, I rely on Betsy Mayotte from TISLA, a nonprofit organization that provides “fair, free student loan advice.”
Here’s why I trust them.
TISLA is The Institute of Student Loan Advisors. It’s a nonprofit organization “dedicated to providing free, unbiased advice and dispute resolution services to student loan borrowers.” TISLA’s mission is “to empower borrowers with accurate information, enabling them to make informed decisions about their student loans.” TISLA “ensures that all consumers have access to fair guidance on managing their student loans without any associated costs.”
TISLA provides current, accurate guidance on loan forgiveness, repayment plan options, default resolution, and dispute resolution (in those situations where mediation assistance is needed to resolve disputes between borrowers and loan servicers or lenders).
TISLA’s commitment to neutrality and free services “distinguishes them from for-profit entities that may charge for similar assistance.”
You can find TISLA online at freestudentloanadvice.org.
If you’ve got an existing Income-Driven Repayment Plan for your student loans and you need to recertify on or after March 26th, 2025, you can do that here:
If you’d like to apply for an Income-Driven Repayment Plan on or after March 26th, 2025, go here:
If you’d like to consolidate your multiple different federal student loans into one federal student loan on or after March 26th, 2025, go here:
If you’re looking for info on Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), that’s still a thing! It would take an act of Congress to officially overturn it. To learn more, go here:
https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service
If you want more info on any of this (or if there’s an error on your student loan account that you can’t seem to get fixed), read this article featuring Betsy Mayotte:
If you have student loans but you’re still in college or grad school, the best idea is—try to pay them off before graduation by applying for more private scholarships.
I help you with exactly that in my article In College? Do This and Slash Your Student Loan Debt.
NOTE: You need to know that if you have private student loan debt and you die, your grieving parents or other family members could be stuck making your student loan payments for decades. Talk to a financial advisor this month about taking out an inexpensive life insurance policy that will pay all these bills in their entirety if the worst happens.
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Who is Jeannie Burlowski?
Jeannie is a full-time academic strategist, podcast host, and sought-after speaker for students ages 12–26, their parents, and the professionals who serve them. Her writing, speaking, and podcasting help parents set their kids up to graduate college debt-free, ready to jump directly into careers they excel at and love. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Huffington Post, USA Today, Parents Magazine, and US News & World Report, and on CBS News.
Jeannie also helps students apply to law, medical, business, and grad school at her website GetIntoMedSchool.com. You can follow her on Bluesky @jburlowski.bsky.social.
No part of this article was written using AI.
This article was updated on April 7th, 2025.