Why isn't my balance going down even though I am making payments?

Your balance will begin to decrease once any late charges, past due amounts and outstanding accrued interest are satisfied. Payments are applied to resolve any late charges first then past due amount. If there are no late charges or no amount is past due, then your payment will be applied to outstanding accrued interest and any remaining portion of your payment will be applied to your principal balance. If your account is on the Income Contingent Repayment Plan, your payment amount may not be enough to cover the amount of interest that is accruing each month. This is called negative amoritization. This condition will change when your Income increases enough to raise your fixed payment high enough to cover the amount of interest accruing each month.