Student loan guides
Guides to federal repayment plans, RAP and IBR payment credit, Parent PLUS loans, and downloading your StudentAid.gov loan file.
- Federal student loan repayment plans after July 2026
How RAP, Tiered Standard and the older repayment plans fit together, and which loan details matter when comparing monthly payments and total costs.
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- RAP and IBR: how payment credit differs
RAP and IBR use different forgiveness timelines. Learn why a payment that counts under one plan may not count under another, and how PSLF is separate.
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- Parent PLUS loans and the 2026 repayment changes
Why Parent PLUS and consolidation history need a separate look when reading the federal repayment rules, RAP exclusions and the ICR transition.
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- How to download your MyStudentData loan file
Find the Download My Aid Data text file on StudentAid.gov, understand what is inside it, and prepare it for a federal student loan comparison.
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