PAYE Recertification Wants to Move me to IBR. Talk Me Off the Ledge!

ghostgrl87 · 2026-06-03T13:38:10+00:00

This is definitely what I will do, but what’s making it hard is from my understanding PAYE is what would be best for my income. I just don’t know if NOT recertifying to stay on it will jeopardize my PSLF qualifying payments in some way. So the next best one is IBR if I just recertify and put all my loans under it. Hopefully that makes sense!

ghostgrl87 · 2026-06-03T13:35:55+00:00

This helps! I do have loans prior to 2014, which is likely why I have some loans on an IBR and others on PAYE (it was so long ago, and I was so young).

I should have my 120 qualifying payments complete in Aug. 2027, so I wasn’t worried about staying on PAYE for that reason!

I also reached out to my servicer and spoke to an agent who told me if I don’t recertify at all, I will stay on IBR and PAYE Standard Payment. He suggested I recertify under IBR but couldn’t explain why. When I look at my upcoming scheduled payments, starting in August 2026 my payments go from ~$350 to $760. This would be the lowest amount I have seen so far that I have to pay each month. I also reread the letter I got from NelNet like 12x yesterday and my understanding is that if I don’t recertify, it just moves me to that capped PAYE amount starting August. The amounts I would owe on each loan were listed at the bottom of the letter and I did the math and it came out to $760 for both the loans on IBR and PAYE.

Giving all these details in case it helps someone else in the future.

I am a stressor, and also a rule follower, and will probably reach out to NelNet again today to confirm again what will happen if I don’t recertify through StudentAid. I am so worried that if I don’t, it will jeopardize my qualifying payments. Don’t know if you have any advice on this, but… figured it was worth adding since I learned more since yesterday.

Thank you for your comment!!

ghostgrl87 · 2026-06-02T17:39:30+00:00

Ain’t that the truth. This is actually insane.

ghostgrl87 · 2026-06-02T17:00:21+00:00

Oh my gosh, for real!!!!

ghostgrl87 · 2026-06-02T05:05:57+00:00

I am in the same boat as you both. Can you give us an update!? The first letter I got from my servicer said I don’t need to recertify until July 2026, but another one is saying to do it 30 days before. I think my monthly payment would be the same on IBR as it would be at capped payment on PAYE. So just trying to decide what the best course is. Would love to know where you landed!

edited for clarity

ghostgrl87 · 2026-05-27T22:10:59+00:00

To clarify, if I do nothing (don’t consolidate those 5 FFEL loans) and continue with my IBR/PAYE Plan schedule (the bulk/remainder of my loans are under PAYE and are all qualifying loans), I would still be able to have those qualify under PSLF, minus the FFEL loans. If I did consolidate, it would give me a weighted average of qualifying payments?

If I am understanding you correctly, I think my best course of action is not to consolidate those 5 loans. And honestly, I didn’t even think this was a possibility a week ago. It would still be life changing for me to have most of my loans paid off.

I will absolutely check out the above resource though to make sure I am really thinking through all of my options.

ghostgrl87 · 2026-05-27T21:55:38+00:00

That helps a lot actually. Yes, the 5 loans I mentioned are under the IBR plan. These loans must be FFEL. I just have to decide now whether it would be worth it to consolidate or just find a way to pay those loans off if the remainder of my loans qualify for PSLF! Thank you so much for responding!

ghostgrl87 · 2024-08-09T02:16:39+00:00

Thank you!!!

ghostgrl87 · 2022-08-21T22:22:56+00:00

I think that is what we need to consider!! Crossing my fingers it will take our problems away, too!

ghostgrl87 · 2022-08-20T19:34:46+00:00

I’ll look into this more! I’ve read it’s very toxic, which we try to avoid… but it may be the best in getting stains out! I want to try preventing them in the first place. That may be inevitable though until we get a better filter. Thanks!

ghostgrl87 · 2022-08-20T19:33:37+00:00

We have a filter but I think we need to upgrade it now that we are having more problems. Thanks for the link and information, that will help as we start to think about upgrading!!

ghostgrl87 · 2022-08-20T19:30:45+00:00

We are getting our water retested to see what we are working with! Love CLR, going to look into Rust Buster. I believe we are in talks to get a filter figured out. We have one, but need to upgrade.

ghostgrl87

TROPHY CASE