Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan Application Guide April 1, 2013 The IBR Plan application form may be found at

IBR Application Form Section 1 – All borrower information MUST be completed (except for address). Please enter or correct the following information: SSN |__|__|__|-|__|__|-|__|__|__|__| Name ___________________________________________________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________________________________________________ City, State, Zip Code__________________________________________________________________ Telephone – Primary (__)______________________________________________________________ Telephone – Alternate (__)_____________________________________________________________ Address (Optional)______________________________________________________________ 2

Repayment Plan Request Section 2 – “Pay As You Earn” and “ICR” are not FFELP choices, you can only pick “IBR”. Check item (a)  I am requesting a repayment plan.. Choose and check either item (b) or (c). (b)  is for IBR renewal/recertification/initial qualification (c)  is for a mid-year recalculation 3

Eligible Loans with Another Lender? Section 2 – Question 2 2.  Check the box if you have eligible loans with another lender. –This would include your spouse’s loans if you are jointly submitting this request. –You must submit a separate request to each lender that holds your loans. 4

Complete this section if: 1) You file a joint federal income tax form 2) You have a joint Consolidation loan with your spouse 3) Your spouse has qualifying loans 5 Section 3 Please enter the following information: Spouse’s SSN |_|_|_|-|_|_|-|_|_|_|_| Spouse’s Name____________________________________ Spouse’s Date of Birth |_|_|-|_|_|-|_|_| Section 3: Spousal Information If you complete section 3, your spouse is required to sign the form.

Married borrowers You must complete the spousal information in Section 3 if you: –File a joint federal income tax return with your spouse and your spouse has loans that are eligible for repayment under the IBR plan (refer to Section 9), or –You and your spouse are joint borrowers of a Federal Consolidation Loan that you want to repay under the IBR plan. 6

Married borrowers Section 3 – If you file a joint federal income tax return with your spouse, your loan holder(s) will base your eligibility determination and monthly payment amount on your combined income regardless of whether your spouse has eligible federal loans. If your spouse does not have eligible student loans, you do not need to complete this section. 7

Section 4: Family Size and Income 7. |_|_| Enter your family size. –Provide Family Size This includes all family members, including children expected in the next 12 months. All dependents must get more than half their support from you and your spouse. –Leaving question 7 blank. Leaving this question blank requires us to use a family size of one. 8

Section 4: Continued 8. Did you file a federal income return…  Yes – Continue to Item 9.  No – Skip to Section 5. 9 Item 9 – Is your income now significantly different than what you reported to the IRS?  Yes – Continue to Section 5.  No – Provide your most recently filed federal tax form and skip to Section 6.

Section 5: Alternative Documentation of Income Complete this section only if: –You cannot provide a tax form. –Your income has significantly changed from last year’s tax info. –You do not file a federal tax form. –Your current income is better represented by something other than last year’s tax return. 10

If you do not have income… 10. Do you have taxable income? 11  Yes – Provide documentation as described.  No – By signing form, you certify you have no income and are not required to file federal tax return. 11. If you completed section 3, does your spouse have taxable income?  Yes – Provide documentation of your spouse’s income as described.  No – By signing form, your spouse is certifying that he/she has no taxable income or is not required to file federal tax return.

Federal Tax Forms We need pages 1-2 of your federal tax form. You must provide the most recent year’s forms. We cannot use state tax returns. We do not need the Alternative Documentation of Income if you submit tax forms! 12

Your Annual Taxable Income 13 Income is defined as: income from employment unemployment income dividend income interest income tips alimony Do not include: Supplemental Security Insurance child support public assistance

Section 6: Signing the IBR Request You must sign and date the form. Be sure to date the form with the current date! We will return unsigned or incorrectly dated forms! Your spouse must also sign and date the form if you have a joint tax return and your spouse’s educational loans are part of the IBR request. 14

Supporting Income Documentation Provide two recent, consecutive pay stubs. Your W2 form is an acceptable form of income documentation. Make sure you provide the pay period length (weekly, biweekly, etc). Provide the approximate start or end date to the job. Do not cross out or highlight info. 15 Bottom Line – We must have enough info to calculate your Federal Adjusted Gross Income. Income documentation is something other than your federal tax form. This must establish your current income through pay stubs or employer furnished documentation of annual income.

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