June 23, 2010
July 1 Brings Important Changes to Federal Student Loans
Improvements to Income-Based Repayment, Lower Interest Rates, 100% Direct Loans, and More
The Project on Student Debt
July 1 will bring several significant changes to federal student loans that benefit new and current borrowers. Some interest rates will decrease, and updated rules for Income-Based Repayment (IBR) will bring fair treatment to married borrowers and those who owe more than when they finished school. Also, all federal student loans made on or after July 1 will be Direct Loans, which come straight from the U.S. Department of Education. This will save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars by eliminating a parallel program that subsidized private lenders to make the same federal loans.
