How Long Are Student Loans

It’s a common question: How long are student loans?

It’s a good question to ask, since student loans are often the biggest debt you’ll take on in your life. And as with any debt, you want to make sure that you’re paying it off as quickly as possible.

The answer can be a little complicated. It depends on what kind of loan you have and how much money you borrowed. There are also a few other factors that may affect how long it takes for your student loans to be paid off: whether or not you pay them back while in school, and whether or not they are subsidized (meaning the government pays part of the interest).

That said, here’s an overview of how long student loans generally take to pay off:

Federal Perkins Loans: 10 years

Federal Stafford Loans (Subsidized): 10 years

Federal Stafford Loans (Unsubsidized): 20 years

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Federal student loans usually offer better terms and protections than private student loans, so you may want to find out what governmental aid is available to you first.

You’ll need to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, to determine if you qualify for federal student loans. There is a yearly federal deadline for aid, and many states and colleges also have deadlines for the aid they administer. The FAFSA takes about an hour to complete and will require several documents detailing your financial situation.

It will take roughly one to three weeks to process your FAFSA and receive a financial aid package designed around your needs. This package may include grants, scholarships, work-study programs, and loans. Even if you aren’t sure you qualify for financial aid, it’s still beneficial to fill out the form — you never know what may be available unless you apply.

If you choose to take out a loan, you’ll need to sign a Master Promissory Note, which is a legal document you sign to commit to repaying your loan along with interest and fees. You’ll also agree to the repayment term and lock in the amount of money you want to borrow. The government won’t disburse your loan until you sign this document.

You can usually expect to receive federal funds around 10 days before classes start. If you are both a first-year student and a first-time borrower, you may experience a 30-day delay.

How long does it take to get a private student loan?

While it’s usually a better idea to take out federal student loans than private student loans, sometimes you’ll need a bit of extra cash to pay for college that isn’t available through the government.

The application process for private student loans is often much quicker than filling out the FAFSA. You can see your rates and find out whether you’re approved for a loan within a few minutes with some companies, and most lenders will give you an approval decision within 15 minutes.

Generally, you can check the status of your loan disbursement through a lender’s online portal or by calling customer service. You’ll have to sign a document similar to the Master Promissory Note you’d sign with the government to agree to the lender’s repayment terms.

Once you accept the terms of your loan, your college will probably receive funds from a private lender within two to 10 weeks. You’ll receive the funds in your personal bank account if you take out a direct-to-consumer loan, while your school’s financial aid office will get the money if you take out a school-certified loan.

Most money will be allocated without a hitch. But if you’re stressed out over the status of your funds, reach out to your lender to find out when it will disburse your money.

student loan forgiveness

If you are employed by a U.S. federal, state, local, or tribal government or not-for-profit organization, you might be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. Keep reading to see whether you might qualify.

To ensure you’re on the right track, you should submit a Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) & Temporary Expanded PSLF (TEPSLF) Certification & Application (PSLF Form) annually or when you change employers. We’ll use the information you provide on the form to let you know if you are making qualifying PSLF payments. This will help you determine if you’re on the right track as early as possible.

*This provision will be waived through October 31, 2022 as part of the limited PSLF waiver. Learn more.

Suspended Payments Count Toward PSLF and TEPSLF During the COVID-19 Administrative Forbearance

If you have a Direct Loan and work full-time for a qualifying employer during the payment suspension (administrative forbearance), then you will receive credit toward PSLF or TEPSLF for the period of suspension as though you made on-time monthly payments in the correct amount while on a qualifying repayment plan.

To see these qualifying payments reflected in your account, you must submit a PSLF form certifying your employment for the same period of time as the suspension. Your count of qualifying payments toward PSLF is officially updated only when you update your employment certifications.

Digital signatures from you or your employer must be hand-drawn (from a signature pad, mouse, finger, or by taking a picture of a signature drawn on a piece of paper that you then scan and embed on the signature line of the PSLF form) to be accepted. Typed signatures, even if made to mimic a hand-drawn signature, or security certificate-based signatures are not accepted.

Note: In-grace, in-school, and certain deferment, forbearance, and bankruptcy statuses are not eligible for credit toward PSLF.

Have questions? Find out what loans qualify and get additional information about student loan flexibilities due to the COVID-19 emergency.

Qualifying Employer

Qualifying employment for the PSLF Program isn’t about the specific job that you do for your employer. Instead, it’s about who your employer is. Employment with the following types of organizations qualifies for PSLF:

Government organizations at any level (U.S. federal, state, local, or tribal) – this includes the U.S. military
Not-for-profit organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code

Serving as a full-time AmeriCorps or Peace Corps volunteer also counts as qualifying employment for the PSLF Program.

The following types of employers don’t qualify for PSLF:

Labor unions
Partisan political organizations
For-profit organizations, including for-profit government contractors

Contractors: You must be directly employed by a qualifying employer for your employment to count toward PSLF. If you’re employed by an organization that is doing work under a contract with a qualifying employer, it is your employer’s status—not the status of the organization that your employer has a contract with—that determines whether your employment qualifies for PSLF. For example, if you’re employed by a for-profit contractor that is doing work for a qualifying employer, your employment does not count toward PSLF.

Other types of not-for-profit organizations: If you work for a not-for-profit organization that is not tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, it can still be considered a qualifying employer if it provides certain types of qualifying public services.

Full-time Employment

For PSLF, you’re generally considered to work full-time if you meet your employer’s definition of full-time or work at least 30 hours per week, whichever is greater.

If you are employed in more than one qualifying part-time job at the same time, you will be considered full-time if you work a combined average of at least 30 hours per week with your employers.

If you are employed by a not-for-profit organization, time spent on religious instruction, worship services, or any form of proselytizing as a part of your job responsibilities may be counted toward meeting the full-time employment requirement.

Eligible Loans

Any loan received under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program qualifies for PSLF.

Loans from these federal student loan programs don’t qualify for PSLF: the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program and the Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins Loan) Program. However, they may become eligible if you consolidate them into a Direct Consolidation Loan.

Student loans from private lenders do not qualify for PSLF.

Under normal PSLF Program rules, if you consolidate your loans, only qualifying payments that you make on the new Direct Consolidation Loan can be counted toward the 120 payments required for PSLF. Any payments you made on the loans before you consolidated them don’t count. However, if you consolidate these loans into a Direct Loan before October 31, 2022, you may be able to receive qualifying credit for payments made on those loans through the limited PSLF waiver.