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How to Pay off Student Loans in 10 Years or Less

There are a few ways to pay off your student loans in 10 years or less, such as going after student loan forgiveness or refinancing your loans.

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By Taylor Medine

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Taylor Medine

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Taylor Medine is an authority on personal finance. Her work has been featured by Bankrate, USA TODAY, The Balance, Business Insider, Credit Karma, and MSN.

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Edited by Ashley Harrison

Written by

Ashley Harrison

Writer

Ashley Harrison has over six years of experience as an authority on personal finance. Her work has been featured by USA TODAY Blueprint, Forbes Advisor, Fox Business, and Yahoo Money.

Updated September 23, 2024

Editorial disclosure: Our goal is to give you the tools and confidence you need to improve your finances.

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Student loans can sometimes feel like a roadblock standing between you and meeting other financial goals you might have, especially if you have a high student loan balance.

However, there are ways to potentially pay off your student loans more quickly — in 10 years or less, for example. This could help you save money on interest and free up cash in your budget.

1. Get on the standard repayment plan

Federal student loans are placed on the standard repayment plan by default. Under this plan, you’ll have 10 years of fixed monthly payments that won’t change over the life of the loan.

Is the standard repayment plan a good choice? With the standard repayment plan, you’ll have predictable monthly payments for just 10 years, which could save you money on interest and help you pay off your loans faster.

However, payments on the standard plan can sometimes be high. The average student loan payment for undergraduate loans on the standard repayment plan is $305, and this goes up to an average of $723 for graduate loans. The payments for more expensive professional programs — such as law or medical school — could be much higher.

If you’re struggling with the payments, another repayment plan might be better for you.

Here’s how student loan payments under the standard 10-year plan might look for different loan amounts with average student loan interest rates:

 

Loan balance
APR*
Monthly payment
Total paid
$30,000
4.66%
$313
$37,588
$50,000
4.66%
$522
$62,646
$100,000
6.22%
$1,121
$134,554
$200,000
6.22%
$2,243
$269,108
*Note: The average interest rate for undergraduate students from 2006-2021 was 4.66% and 6.22% for graduate students.

Learn More: Best Student Loan Refinance Companies

Do private student loans have a standard repayment plan?

There isn’t a “standard repayment plan” across private lenders. Repayment terms for private student loans generally range from five to 20 years, depending on the lender.

 

Tip: Many private student loan lenders don’t charge prepayment penalties. So, if you have a term longer than 10 years, you can likely make extra payments to pay off your loan early without any extra charges.

 

Here’s how paying off private student loans in 10 years might look depending on the loan balance. Note that these calculations assumed an APR of 9.97%, the average 10-year fixed rate for private student loans without a cosigner.

 

Loan balance
Monthly payment
Total paid
$30,000
$396
$47,514
$50,000
$660
$79,190
$100,000
$1,320
$158,381
$200,000
$2,640
$316,763

Tip: You might be able to get a lower interest rate on your private student loans through refinancing, depending on your credit.

 

This could help you save money on interest charges over time as well as potentially pay off your loans faster since more of your payment will go toward your principal instead of interest.

 

You can use our calculator below to see how much you can save by refinancing your student loans.

 

 

Check Out: How to Refinance Student Loans

2. Work toward federal student loan forgiveness if you qualify

If you have federal student loans, you might qualify for student loan forgiveness programs. These programs typically require that you work in certain professions or make payments on a specific plan. For example, doctors who attended medical school or lawyers who attended law school might be eligible for certain federal student oan forgiveness programs.

 

For example: Doctors who have medical school debt could be eligible for certain federal student loan forgiveness programs.

 

Some other common career tracks that might qualify for federal loan forgiveness include:

  • Dentists
  • Lawyers
  • Nurses
  • Pharmacists
  • Physicians assistants
  • Teachers

Here are a few of the most well-known federal student loan forgiveness programs available:

  • Public Service Loan Forgiveness: If you work for a government or nonprofit agency, you might be eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). You’ll need to make 10 years on qualifying payments to apply.
  • Income-driven repayment: If you sign up for one of the four income-driven repayment plans, your payments will be based on your monthly income. Depending on the plan, any remaining balance could be forgiven after 20 to 25 years of payments.
  • Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program: Under this program, full-time teachers who teach for five consecutive years at a low-income school might qualify for partial loan forgiveness. If you meet all of the requirements, you could have $5,000 or $17,500 forgiven, depending on the subject you teach.

 

Tip: If you don’t qualify for a forgiveness program, you could also consider refinancing your federal student loans to potentially get a lower interest rate.

However, keep in mind that refinancing your federal student loans will cost you your federal benefits and protections, including access to income-driven repayment as well as deferment and forbearance options.

If you decide to refinance your student loans, be sure to consider as many lenders as possible to find the right loan for you. Credible makes this easy — you can compare your prequalified rates from multiple lenders in two minutes.

 

Find out if refinancing is right for you

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See Your Refinancing OptionsCredible is 100% free!

 

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Learn More: Private Student Loan Consolidation

3. Start making extra payments — no matter how small

After deciding on your repayment plan, consider making extra payments to speed up the repayment process — such as making bi-weekly payments instead of just one monthly payment.

This could cut months or even years off your repayment term, depending on how much you can afford to pay each month.

 

For example: Say you owe $30,000 in student loans with a 10-year loan term, a 9.97% APR, and monthly payments of $396. If you paid an extra $100 per month ($496 in total), you’d save $5,657 in interest and pay your loan off almost three years sooner.

Keep in mind that even paying just a little extra toward your loans will help. For example, if you can’t afford to pay another $100, maybe you could increase your payment by just $10 or $25. Remember that every little bit counts when you’re tackling debt.

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4. Refinance your student loans

If you refinance your student loans, you’ll take out a new loan with new terms to pay off your old loans. Depending on your credit, you might get a lower interest rate through refinancing, which could help you save on interest charges and potentially pay off your loan faster.

With refinancing, you could also opt for a different repayment term. Keep in mind that while a longer term could get you a lower monthly payment, you’ll pay more in interest charges over time.

It’s usually a good idea to choose the shortest repayment term you can afford — especially since a shorter term might also get you a better interest rate.

 

Remember: While you can refinance federal student loans, you’ll lose access to your federal benefits and protections, such as access to income-driven repayment plans and student loan forgiveness programs.

You’ll typically need good to excellent credit as well as verifiable income to qualify for refinancing. Some lenders also offer refinancing for bad credit, but these loans generally come with higher interest rates compared to good credit loans.

 

Tip: If you can’t get approved for refinancing on your own, you could also consider applying with a cosigner. Even if you don’t need a cosigner to qualify, having one could get you a lower rate than you’d get on your own.

If you decide to refinance, remember to consider as many lenders as you can to find the right loan for your needs. Credible makes this easy — you can compare your prequalified rates from our partner lenders in the table below in two minutes.

 

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How to Pay Off Your Student Loans:

 

Meet the expert:
Taylor Medine

Taylor Medine is an authority on personal finance. Her work has been featured by Bankrate, USA TODAY, The Balance, Business Insider, Credit Karma, and MSN.

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