When it comes time to repay your student loans, you'll be relieved to know that many lenders offer a variety of repayment plans -- some of them quite flexible. Which plans are available to you depends on the types of loans you have.

If you have bank or government issued federal student loans -- for example, Stafford loans -- you can choose from several repayment plans designed to make your life less stressful. If you have school issued federal student loans -- such as Perkins loans -- ask your school about its options for repayment. Private loans, made without federal funds, come with fewer repayment options. (These loans are made primarily to graduate or professional students, and have names such as MedCAP, MBA-EXCEL, ENGAssist or LAWLOANS.)

You may want to pick just one method or, if you have several loans, combine approaches to create the best repayment strategy. To investigate your options, call your lender, loan holder or loan servicer. But don't wait until you're seriously behind in your payments -- if you're in default on your loans, many of these options won't be available to you.

If you're eligible for more than one repayment plan, keep in mind that you aren't locked into the method you choose. The holder of your loan must let you change repayment plans at least once per year.

Standard Repayment Plan

Graduated Repayment Plan

If you got a federal loan directly from the government through the federal direct loan program, your payments may start out as low as half of what they would be under the standard plan (though never less than $25/month). Then they'll increase every two years, for 10 to 30 years. Obviously, you'll pay much more this way, but your monthly payments will never rise to more than 150% of the amount you'd owe under the standard plan.

Other lenders may require that you pay only the interest on your loans for a few years. Then you'll switch to payments of principal and interest until your loan is paid off. Your repayment period will always depend on the amount you owe; in extreme cases, it may stretch to 30 years.

With any graduated repayment plan, you'll pay more for your loan over time than you would under a standard plan. This happens for two reasons: First, because interest charges are based on your unpaid balance each month, if you keep a higher balance in the early years of your loan you will pay higher interest charges. Second, because you're likely to extend your repayment period to keep your payments from becoming too high toward the end of the loan, you'll be paying interest longer.

Extended Repayment Plan

The federal government and many other lenders allow you to combine an extended plan with graduated payments, which will lower your payments even further -- and increase your overall costs even more.

Income-Based Repayment Plan

The amount of your payment is refigured every year, based on your annual income, household size and loan amount. If you are married, under current rules, your joint income is used to calculate the required monthly payment.

Federal Direct Student Loans. If you have a federal direct Stafford or consolidation loan, you can choose an income-contingent repayment plan. PLUS loans are not eligible. The amount you pay annually will vary, but it will never exceed 20% of your discretionary income -- that is, your annual gross income less an amount based on the poverty level for your household size. (To learn what your maximum payment will be, call the direct loan servicing center at 800-848-0979.)

If your income is very low, you may not be required to pay anything under an income-contingent plan -- or the amount you pay each month will be less than the amount of interest that is accumulating. This may feel like a relief, but as time goes on, your loan balance will continue to grow.

The only relief comes after 25 years -- if you haven't paid off the loan by then, the government will forgive the rest of what you owe. Even then there's a bit of a catch: The IRS requires you to report the amount forgiven and pay taxes on it.

Federal Loans From Financial Institutions. If you obtained a federal Stafford, SLS, PLUS, HEAL or consolidation loan from a financial institution, your lender or other loan holder probably offers an income-sensitive plan. Such plans are similar to the government's income-contingent plan, with one important difference: there is no provision for loan forgiveness as there is under the government's plan. Because you must pay your loans in full, your monthly payments may be slightly higher.

Loan Consolidation or Refinancing

You may want to consider consolidating your loans if:

• You can't afford the monthly payments on your federal student loans, don't qualify for a postponement and aren't eligible for any of the low-payment plans described above. This may be true, for example, if you have older federal loans.

• You qualify for some of the low-payment plans described above, but you are so deep in debt that you still can't afford your monthly payments. This may be true if you have many federal loans, or if you have private loans -- which typically aren't eligible for flexible payment plans or consolidation -- in addition to your federal loans.

You can afford substantial monthly payments and intend to pay off your loans under a standard ten-year plan, but you want to refinance at a lower interest rate.

Many different lenders, including the federal government, offer consolidation loans. Your repayment options will vary slightly depending on the consolidation lender you choose.

All consolidation lenders let you stretch the term of your loan from its original length -- typically, ten years -- to between 12 to 30 years, depending on how much money you owe. You can choose a fixed monthly payment or a graduated or income-related payment plan (discussed above), in which your payments start out low and increase.

Consolidation lenders are happy to help you figure out what your costs will be under various repayment options. Ask potential lenders to help you calculate your payment amounts and overall costs before you make a decision.