Enroll in autopay by Sept 30 for a 1 percentage point federal interest rate cut
The Department of Education is temporarily increasing the autopay interest rate discount from 0.25 percentage point to a full 1 percentage point. Enroll your federal loans in autopay by September 30, 2026 to qualify through June 30, 2028.
This is a federal program administered by the U.S. Department of Education and your loan servicer — not an offer from Student Loans Central. Enrolling is free, you do it directly with your servicer, and we earn nothing if you enroll.
Who qualifies
- • Federal loans only. Direct Loans owned by the Department of Education. Private and refinanced loans are not eligible — private lenders set their own autopay discounts, typically 0.25 percentage point.
- • The loan must be in repayment and enrolled in automatic debit (ACH) with the servicer that bills it.
- • Loans still in school, grace, deferment, or forbearance qualify once they enter repayment and autopay is active.
- • Each loan is treated separately — enrolling one servicer's loans does not enroll loans billed by another servicer.
What the benefit is worth
The autopay discount rises from 0.25 percentage points to a full 1 percentage point off your interest rate. If your rate already includes the old 0.25 discount, the additional reduction is 0.75 percentage point. On a $35,000 balance that is roughly $260 less interest in the first year; the exact figure depends on your balance, rate, and payment amount.
The reduction lowers the interest that accrues — it does not lower your required monthly payment, so more of each payment goes to principal.
The dates that matter
- • Enrollment deadline: September 30, 2026. Autopay must be active on the loan by this date.
- • The reduced rate runs through June 30, 2028. After that the discount reverts to the standard 0.25 percentage point unless the Department extends it.
- • Cancelling autopay ends the reduction immediately; re-enrolling after the deadline restores only the standard discount.
How to enroll with your servicer
- 1
Find out who services each federal loan
Log in to StudentAid.gov and open your dashboard — it lists every federal loan and the servicer assigned to it. Private loans are not part of this program.
- 2
Enroll in autopay on the servicer's site, not a third party
Every servicer has a free autopay (ACH) enrollment page. You will need a checking or savings account and routing number. Never pay a company to do this for you.
- 3
Confirm the discount appears on your account
The reduction shows up on your next statement as a lower interest rate, not as a credit. If your rate has not moved after one billing cycle, call the servicer and ask them to confirm autopay is active.
- 4
Keep the bank account funded
A returned payment can cancel autopay, and cancelling autopay ends the reduced rate until you re-enroll.