Repayment hell: The student loan mistake that balloons monthly payment

Even though Congress made big changes to U.S. student loan programs in 2025 with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), one perk of federally subsidized student loans that remains is the possibility of enrolling into a repayment plan that keeps your payments manageable and could offer forgiveness after a few decades. If you haven’t borrowed money yet, or if you haven’t consolidated your loans into a legacy Income-Driven Repayment plan (IDR), you only have one option: the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). If you have already enrolled in Income-Based Repayment (IBR), you’re in luck! This plan will never exceed what you would owe on the standard 10-year plan, no matter how high your income gets. And it’s the only legacy plan that will survive past 2028. If you are currently enrolled in PAYE o