Does Spouse Income Count for Student Loan Repayment? | IDR Explained

Your spouse’s income affects your student loan payment if the plan uses joint income. In that situation, the payment is based on both spouses’ earnings and then prorated according to how much of the household’s federal student loan debt each person owes. Only IBR, PAYE, and ICR let you base the payment solely on your income by filing taxes separately. SAVE always counts household income.

Related: How Income-Based Repayment Works

Each income-driven repayment plan handles spouse income differently, and the difference always comes down to one thing: whether the plan lets you separate your income by filing taxes separately. If it does, only your income counts. If it doesn’t, your payment is based on joint income, and your spouse’s earnings get pulled in automatically.

IBR

IBR is the most flexible of the current plans. If you file jointly, it uses joint income; if you file separately, it uses only your income. That’s what makes IBR the safest option for married borrowers who need to keep their payments low, and it will remain available until RAP takes over in 2026.

PAYE and ICR

PAYE and ICR work the same way: joint filing triggers joint income; separate filing limits the calculation to your income only. Neither plan is open to new borrowers, but people already enrolled can stay in them until both plans sunset around 2028. Their spousal-income rules still matter because they continue to drive how monthly payments are calculated for existing users.

SAVE

SAVE was different. It always used joint income, even if you filed separately. Filing separately never excluded your spouse’s income under SAVE. And because SAVE is now frozen under court order—with borrowers stuck in forced forbearance—you can’t enter the plan or use it for payment calculations. But its treatment of spouse income is still relevant for understanding why SAVE payments were often higher than IBR or PAYE.

RAP

RAP, expected late spring of 2026, will replace SAVE, PAYE, and ICR. The Department hasn’t finalized whether filing separately will exclude a spouse’s income under RAP. The working assumption is that RAP may treat spouse income more like SAVE than IBR, but until the rules are finalized, that remains uncertain.

Related: IBR vs RAP: Which Student Loan Repayment Plan Is Better for You?

When an IDR plan uses joint income, your payment isn’t calculated separately from your spouse. The servicer creates one household payment based on your combined income and then divides that payment between you based on how much of the total federal student loan debt each of you owes.

The split is called proration. If you owe most of the household’s federal balance, you’re assigned most of the household IDR payment. If your spouse owes only a small share, they’re responsible for only a small part of that joint amount.

For example, imagine you earn $60,000 and your spouse earns $100,000. Together you owe $120,000 in federal loans—$90,000 is yours and $30,000 is your spouse’s. Under a joint-income plan, the servicer calculates one IDR payment using the full $160,000 income, then assigns 75% of that payment to you because you owe 75% of the balance.

Your tax filing status determines which income counts:

• Married Filing Jointly: Both incomes count on every plan.

• Married Filing Separately: Only your income counts under PAYE, IBR, and ICR. (Under the now-paused SAVE plan, both incomes counted regardless.)

The impact can be substantial. If you earn $60,000 and your spouse earns $90,000, filing separately could cut your payment by more than half — though you’ll likely owe more in taxes.

Related: The Partial Financial Hardship Requirement Has Been Removed

Filing separately makes sense when it saves you more on loan payments than it costs you in taxes.

This works best when:

• You’re in IBR, PAYE, or ICR — not SAVE.

• Your spouse earns significantly more than you do.

• Your spouse doesn’t have student loans.

Filing separately means only your income counts toward your payment under those plans, which can dramatically lower what you owe each month. In turn, lowering your payments maximizes the benefits you get from income-based repayment forgiveness.

But filing separately has two drawbacks:

1. It typically raises your tax bill.

2. It can also make you ineligible for certain deductions or credits.

Note: You can amend your tax return from “Married Filing Separately” to “Married Filing Jointly” within three years. This allowance lets you calculate your student loan payments based on your income and then, later, if your situation changes, amend your tax return status from separate to joint.

Getting married doesn’t automatically change your student loan payment. Your servicer recalculates your payment at your next annual recertification based on your most recent tax return.

You can also recertify early if you want your new filing status or updated income reflected before your scheduled date. This makes sense if you start filing separately or your income changes significantly.

Related: Am I Responsible for My Spouse’s Student Loan Debt?