Consumer Information
The consumer information page contains important resources for prospective and current GW students and to assist the GW community in finding important institutional information.
Understanding your loan options, their terms, and how to manage repayment is vital to future financial success. Loan counseling and repayment options are another primary focus for the GW MD Program Office of Financial Aid. Mandatory one-on-one counseling is required of all students who take out a loan to finance their medical school education in the first semester that they will obtain a loan. Class debt management presentations are mandated in the first-, second-, and fourth-years of the MD Program. Counseling is especially important for our fourth-year students. During the month of March, fourth-year students will attend a session with Jeffrey Hanson, PhD, a respected speaker on issues of importance to graduating students, including loan repayment options and debt management. All students are encouraged to contact the Office of Financial Aid whenever they have questions and also to take advantage of online resources through the AAMC's FIRST program and GW CashCourse.
Repayment Plans (StudentAid.gov)
Fixed Payment Repayment Plans
The fixed payment repayment plans include the Standard Repayment Plan, the Graduated Repayment Plan, and the Extended Repayment Plan. These plans base your monthly payment amount on how much you owe, your interest rate, and a fixed repayment time period. If you want to be placed on one of these plans, contact your loan servicer.
When you leave school, you will be automatically enrolled in the Standard Repayment Plan unless you pick a different repayment plan.
|
Fixed Plans |
Eligibility |
Monthly Payment Amount |
|---|---|---|
|
Standard |
These loan types are eligible:
|
Payments are a fixed amount that ensures your loans are paid off within 10 years (within 10 to 30 years for Consolidation Loans). |
|
Graduated |
These loan types are eligible:
|
Payments are lower at first and then increase, usually every two years. Payment amounts are designed to ensure your loans are paid off within 10 years (within 10 to 30 years for Consolidation Loans). |
|
Extended |
To qualify for this plan, you must have more than $30,000 in outstanding Direct Loans (if you're a Direct Loan borrower) or more than $30,000 in outstanding FFEL Program loans (if you're a FFEL borrower). These loan types are eligible:
|
Payments can be fixed or graduated and will ensure that your loans are paid off within 25 yea |
Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Plans
IDR plans base your monthly payment amount on how much money you make and your family size. We offer four IDR plans:
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Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan—formerly the REPAYE Plan
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Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Repayment Plan
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Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan
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Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan
After satisfying a certain number of months of qualifying payments on an IDR plan, you can get the remaining balance of your loan(s) forgiven.
Because payments are based on your income and family size, you must provide your loan servicer with updated income and family size information each year so that your servicer can recalculate your payment amount. This process is called recertification. You must recertify your plan even if there has been no change in your income or family size.
If you agree to the secure disclosure of your tax information, we and your loan servicer will automatically recertify your enrollment in IDR and adjust your monthly payment amount once a year. You’ll be notified when your payment is changing, and you’ll always be able to recertify your plan manually.
Learn More About IDR Plans
|
IDR Plans |
Eligibility |
Monthly Payment Amount |
|---|---|---|
|
SAVE Plan |
These loan types are eligible:
|
10% of discretionary income |
|
PAYE Plan |
To be eligible, you must be a new borrower on or after Oct. 1, 2007, and must have received a disbursement of a Direct Loan on or after Oct. 1, 2011. These loan types are eligible:
|
10% of discretionary income but never more than what you would pay under the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan |
|
IBR Plan |
These loan types are eligible:
|
Either 10% or 15% of your discretionary income (depending on when you received your first loans) but never more than what you would pay under the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan |
|
ICR Plan |
These loan types are eligible:
|
The lesser of
|
Understanding Grace, Deferment & Forbearance
Grace
Some loans have a “grace” period after graduation. During a grace period, no loan payments are due. Although not all loans have grace periods, two that do are Federal Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans (six months) and Perkins Loans (nine months).
Deferment
Deferment is a temporary suspension of loan payments; during this time, interest does not accrue on subsidized loans. It is a period in which repayment of the principal and interest of your loan is temporarily delayed. During a deferment, you do not need to make any payments.
Forbearance
If you cannot afford to make payments on your student loans and you are ineligible for a deferment (or have exhausted the deferment time limitations), a servicer may provide a forbearance in increments of up to 12 months (for a maximum of 36 months). This is a period of time in which you can either make payments lower than those previously scheduled – or delay making payments completely. During forbearance, interest accrues on both subsidized and unsubsidized loans. The accrued interest is added to the loan’s principal through a process called capitalization. Capitalization results in an increase to the total cost of the loan.
Mandatory Medical Residency Forbearance
As a medical resident, you are entitled to a mandatory residency forbearance, which is available in annual increments, and can be used to postpone payments throughout residency. It is important to clearly identify yourself as a medical resident in order to be approved for this forbearance from your servicer, and it is equally important to complete the proper forbearance paperwork in a timely manner.
To request a deferment or forbearance, contact your loan servicer(s).