Student Loans

This year, I requested that my student loans be income contingent. The Direct Loan Center lowered my bills to a doable amount and I was happy. Suddenly this month, my payment quadrupled. Quadrupled.

I called to ask them why. They told me that the IRS sent them my 2009 tax information and since I made a little more money than I did the previous year, they raised my payment. I explained to them that I had already gone through this with them and was at that time told to send in a letter and a current paystub so they could see what my current pay was trending toward. I did so and that was when they lowered the bill to the good amount.

I asked them why:

a) it took so long to get my 2009 tax information
b) why I had to resubmit the paystub when I had already done so

They said that because I made $3500 extra last year (working a temporary job) they had recalculated my payment. I, again, explained that I had already been through this and that it was already on record that my income was less for 2010. They said it didn't matter and I would have to resubmit the forms and go through the whole process again.

I still don't understand, though, why the extra $3500 made them quadruple the payment.