The federal standard student loan repayment plan for Direct Loans and Federal Family Education Loans is based on the borrower’s balance (rather than the borrower’s income or other factors). These balance-based plans are fixed and made for up to 10 years (between 10 and 30 years for consolidation loans).
Federal student loan borrowers have options on which repayment plan to choose. The standard balance-based repayment plan is the default plan that the loan servicer will put the borrower in unless the borrower applies and is approved for a different plan.
The extended/graduated is a hybrid of the graduated and extended balance-based repayment plans which allows eligible borrowers to repay their loans over an extended period of time up to 25 years beginning with lower payments that increase every two years.