IBR is a new student loan repayment program started in July of 2009. Often, students take out student loans that are too much for them to handle. Of course, there are no rules requiring that you start paying on student loans until graduation. As a result, the payments can really pile up. After they graduate, a student may owe more than they may in their new career.

This is problematic because it keeps people below the poverty level. It may also result in children having to go without. It can also destroy relationships and marriages. It can prevent people from achieving their potential because they are spread too thin.

To deal with this issue, the federal government developed IBR. IBR stands for income based repayment. This means that the government uses your income and the size of your family to determine how much you must pay each month on your student loans. The system will help borrowers remain above water and care for their families.

IBR is a great opportunity for many people. It provides them with an option for repayment that works. There are also other attractive elements to IBR. For example, you can stay in the program for 25 years. At the end of this time any remaining debt can be cancelled or forgiven.

Of course you will have some paperwork to deal with in IBR. They program requires a yearly evaluation of your income based on the past year’s earnings. Family size can also change. However you will find that your payments cannot exceed 15 percent of the amount you make over the poverty line. It is a possibility that at some point you may be below your poverty level for your family size. In this case you pay nothing. This helps keep your debt manageable.

A lot of people are interested in getting involved in IBR. They are worried that they are ineligible due to participation in other programs. However lots of programs will actually send IBR your credit with them. It’s highly unlikely you would lose by switching over. Also, participating in IBR does not rule out student loan forgiveness. You can still get forgiveness based on public service while paying through IBR.