Get Ready to Repay
Whether you're a new borrower, been in school for a while, graduating soon, or a Brown alumn - there are steps you can take to be successful in your loan repayment.
Be sure you've completed all required loan exit counseling within 30 days of dropping below 1/2 time enrollment.
Loan Repayment Planning
1. Complete mandatory loan exit counseling for each type of loan you borrowed. This must be completed online, no sooner than 30 days before the end of your last semester at Brown.
2. Know Where & When to repay your loans. Direct Loans (Subsidized, Unsubsidized, and PLUS) are repaid to your federal servicer. Perkins and Institutional loans are repaid to our Brown University Loan Office.
3. Consider a federal Consolidation Loan to combine multiple loans into one monthly payment.
4. Review your options to postpone repayment through deferment or forbearance.
5. Review your options for loan cancellation or forgiveness.
6. Medical students - manage your loans during residency. Direct Loans & Perkins Loans do not offer residency deferment, but you can use forbearance to reduce monthly payments. Most Institutional Loans offer a max of 36 months residency deferment and you must reapply at least every 12 months. If your residency program is longer than 3 years, you may consider using deferment on different loans at different times throughout your residency to limit the number of loans in repayment at one time.
7. Create your repayment strategy
Want to consolidate? Apply before grace period ends
Want to choose a federal repayment plan? Notify your servicer before grace period ends
Want an income-driven repayment plan? Provide income documentation to servicer
Want to pay on-time? Set up automatic payments with EACH servicer
Want to reduce costs? Pay off accrued interest during grace, pay down principal balance during grace