Student-loans4530055

A student loan is designed to help students pay for university tuition, books, and living expenses. It may differ from other types of loans in that the interest rate may be substantially lower and the repayment schedule may be deferred while the student is still in education. It also differs in many countries in the strict laws regulating re-negotiating and bankruptcy.

The Income-Based Repayment plan is an alternative to paying back student loans, which allow the borrower to pay back the loan based on how much he/she makes, and not based how much money is actually owed. However, income based repayment does not apply to private loans.

IBR plans generally cap loan payments at 10 percent of the student borrower's income. Interest accrues and the balance continues to build. However, after a certain number of years, the balance of the loan is forgiven. This period is 10 years if the student borrower works in the public sector (government or a nonprofit) and 25 years if the student works at a for-profit. It is also worth noting that student loans forgiveness is treated as taxable income.

Scholars have criticized IBR plans on the grounds that they create moral hazard and suffer from adverse selection. That is, IBR may encourage student borrowers who could have obtained high-wage jobs to take low wage jobs with good benefits and minimal work hours to reduce their loan payments, thereby driving up the cost of the IBR program. And, if IBR programs are optional, only students who expect to have low wages will opt into the program. Historically, a number of IBR programs have collapsed because of these problems.