Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plans provide affordable monthly student loan payments by basing the payments on a portion of the borrower’s discretionary income, as opposed to the amount they owe.

Generally, IDR plans will yield lower student loan payments when the borrower’s total student loan debt exceeds their annual income. However, there are ways to decrease the student loan payments even further.

Monthly student loan payments under IDR plans are based on a percentage of discretionary income. There are legitimate ways of reducing discretionary income and thereby reducing the student loan payment.

Discretionary income is calculated by subtracting a multiple of the poverty line from Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). Discretionary income may be reduced by reducing AGI or by increasing the applicable poverty line.

Of course, avoid fraudulent tactics like underreporting income or falsely inflating family size, as these carry severe penalties.