In an effort to provide relief, or student loan help, and some hope to students and graduates alike, the government has instituted a new program that will be available this fall. Beginning July 1, actually, a new income based repayment program will be available. If you qualify, you can request that your payments total no less than 15% of your income.

If your income is less than one and half time the poverty level you will not have to pay anything on your student loans. For others who qualify for the program, their payment will be 15% of the difference between the budget allowance and their income.

If you are in a public service job, after 10 years of paying on your loans through the income based program, the rest of your debt will be erased. For those who are not in public service jobs but stay current on the income base payments for 25 years will have their debt forgiven as well.

In order to take advantage of the program, limit the amount of money you borrow to federal student loans. As with any loan, make sure to research the loans offered. If you are no longer in school, contact your lender to apply for the income based program. Make sure to apply for the correct program and not one that sounds the same. Some of the similar sounding programs are referred to as Income contingent repayment or income sensitive repayment.

Before applying for the income based repayment program, consolidate your loans with a federal program. Since Private Lenders do not offer the program that part is highly important. It is going to be up to you to prove that you followed the guidelines of the program in order to have the final amount forgiven after the 10 or 25 year period is over so keep accurate records. Once the payment period has expired, you will also have to apply for the forgiveness portion.

There are a few things that you should be aware of with this program. If your monthly payments are so low that they don’t cover the interest, the amount of your loan will continue to grow until you qualify to have it forgiven. Taxes may have to be paid on the forgiven amount unless you work in the public service arena. If your student loans are in default, you will not qualify.

There are several types of loans that the program does not cover. These loans include private, alternative or signature loans. Parent loans are not covered either.

Finally, if your income is high enough that your loans are less than 15% of your income, regardless of what other debt you may have, you won’t qualify either.

If you think that all this fine print will disqualify you, don’t worry. There are several groups who are lobbying at this time to have improvements made to the program. Congress is already looking at making changes.

Student loan refinancing may be the best option for you. Get the help you need to refinance student loans at Pay-Off-Student-Loan.com