SARAH makes $43,000 per year, is single, and lives in Connecticut. She has $19,000 in subsidized loans and $8000 in unsubsidized loans.

If Sarah wanted her total payments to be even lower, what could she do?

Sarah looks at these results and realizes her monthly payment would be lower with most of the income-based repayment plans. But then, she looks at the Total Amount Paid and realizes that the loan price increases when she chooses these plans. How is this possible -- that her monthly payment is lower but her total payments are higher?