If you’ve taken out student loans to fund your education, you’re likely left with an important question — exactly how long does it take to pay off student loans?
It might be longer than you think. According to 2023 Federal Student Aid data, of federal student loan borrowers who are still in repayment, roughly half are over the age of 35.
But precisely how long you'll be in repayment depends on various factors, including your loan balance, interest rate, and repayment term. Here’s what determines your repayment timeline and how you can pay off student loans faster.
How long does it take to pay off student loans?
Student loans can originate from the federal government (federal loans) or a private institution like an online lender or bank (private loans). The type of student loans you have will impact the repayment plans and terms you’re offered.
For example, federal loans have multiple repayment plans with different terms, including:
- Standard Repayment plan (10 years for most, or up to 30 years for Direct Consolidation Loans)
- Graduated Repayment plan (10 years for most, or up to 30 years for Direct Consolidation Loans)
- Extended Repayment plan (25 years)
- Four income-driven repayment (IDR) plans (20 or 25 years)
Private student loan repayment plans and terms will depend on the lender, but you can often find private loans that offer your choice of terms from five to 20 years.
Important: While your repayment plan comes with a specified timeline, you can always make extra payments to get rid of your debt faster. Doing so can save you money and free up your budget to focus on other financial goals. And no need to worry about prepayment penalties — they’re prohibited in student lending.
6 factors affecting student loan repayment
How long it takes to pay off student loans is a common concern for borrowers, but the answer is as unique as your fingerprint. Every student loan borrower has a different financial situation and may have different types of loans.
The top factors affecting your student loan repayment timeline include:
- Your principal balance: This refers to the original amount borrowed, either from the U.S. Department of Education or from a private lender. The higher your balance, the longer it may take to repay your loans with affordable monthly payments.
- Interest rate: Expressed as a percentage, your interest rate is the fee you pay to the lender in exchange for borrowing money. Interest rates are fixed for federal loans but may be fixed or variable with private loans. If you have high rates, paying off your loan ahead of schedule can reap significant savings.
- Repayment plan: Your repayment plan determines your loan term, or how long you have to pay off your student loans. Longer terms have the benefit of lower monthly payments, but higher interest costs. Shorter terms result in higher payments, less interest, and getting out of debt faster.
- Income: How much you earn determines how much you can contribute toward your student loans. Low-income borrowers who struggle to make payments should consider IDR plans. Earning more offers more flexibility to repay debt.
- Cost of living: Your regular expenses and cost of living also affect how much you have each month to contribute toward your student loans. Reducing your costs can free up extra cash to put toward debt.
- Life circumstances: Factors like having children, owning a home, or having parental support can greatly influence your repayment timeline. Borrowers with dependents or a mortgage may have limited flexibility and other financial priorities, whereas those with parental support or fewer financial responsibilities often have more options.
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How your student loan repayment affects total costs
Your repayment term dictates the time it’ll take to pay off your loans. It also affects the size of your monthly payments — which can impact how much goes toward your principal balance versus interest.
Below you can see how the repayment term affects total costs, based on a $25,000 student loan with a fixed 5.50% interest rate.
The difference in total costs can be significant, so choose your loan term wisely. Shorter repayment terms generally result in higher monthly payments, but lower interest costs. As repayment terms get longer, monthly payments decrease, and interest increases.
How to accelerate student loan repayment
If you’ve looked at your repayment timeline, you might see many years of monthly payments in your future. The shortest federal repayment option, which is the Standard Repayment plan, is 10 years. Some income-driven repayment plans and the Extended Repayment plan have repayment terms of 25 years.
The good news is you have some control and can accelerate your student loan repayment if desired. Here are some ways to pay off student loans faster.
1. Make extra payments
The monthly payment you make is the minimum based on your repayment plan, but it’s possible to make additional payments. The key part is to tell your loan servicer to put additional funds toward the principal balance. This can lower your overall interest costs and get you out of debt faster.
2. Snowball or avalanche methods
If you have multiple student loans, you likely have different interest rates and balances. To help you decide which loans to prioritize, you can choose a repayment strategy to tackle your loans — the debt snowball or debt avalanche methods. In each approach, you pay the minimum on all your loans.
But with the snowball method, you put any extra cash toward the smallest balance. While this won’t necessarily save you money on interest, you can see quick payoffs and make fast progress.
Alternatively, the avalanche method puts extra money toward loans with the highest interest rates. This can save you money on interest costs.
3. Student loan refinancing
Your interest rate can be a big hurdle in your repayment. It increases your costs quickly, making it tough to get ahead. Student loan refinancing allows qualified borrowers to access a lower interest rate. This means freeing up funds to make more progress on your principal balance.
While cost-effective, refinancing makes you ineligible for any federal loan benefits such as student loan forgiveness or income-driven repayment. Consider the benefits and drawbacks before refinancing loans.
4. Extra income
Putting extra income toward your loans can accelerate your payoff date. Whether you receive an unexpected tax refund, birthday money from grandma, or quick cash from selling your old things, put that money toward debt.
If you get a raise, try to live off your previous salary and put the extra cash toward your student loans.
Using these strategies can help shorten your timeline and get you out of debt faster. So if you’re trying to figure out how long it takes to pay off student loans, you can say “sooner” rather than “later.”
