For federal student loans, you are automatically placed on the Standard Repayment Plan unless you actively choose a different plan by contacting your loan servicer or applying for an alternative repayment option online.

Quick scoop on what that means

  • The Standard Repayment Plan uses fixed payments, typically over 10 years for most federal student loans.
  • This plan is the default setup: when your loans enter repayment (or when you exit default through programs like Fresh Start), you are automatically put on Standard Repayment unless you request a different plan such as an income-driven repayment plan.
  • To change it, you must contact your servicer or submit a repayment plan request through the official federal student aid website.

In short: if you do nothing, you stay on Standard Repayment; if you want something else, you must ask for it. Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.