Student Loan Calculator

How This Calculator Works

Standard, Extended, and Tiered Standard plans use the standard amortization formula M = P × r(1+r)ⁿ / [(1+r)ⁿ − 1], where P is principal, r is the monthly interest rate, and n is the number of monthly payments. Graduated plans start with a lower payment that steps up roughly every 24 months (capped at 3× the starting payment) so the loan still fully amortizes by the end of the term. IBR estimates payments as 10% of discretionary income — income above 150% of the federal poverty guideline for your household size — capped so you never pay more than the Standard 10-year amount. RAP calculates payments as a sliding-scale percentage of your full Adjusted Gross Income (1%–10%, rising one percentage point per $10,000 of AGI above $10,000), minus $50 per dependent, with a $10/month floor; unpaid interest is waived rather than added to your balance, and the government matches your principal payment up to $50/month. Tiered Standard sets a fixed term automatically from your balance (under $25,000 → 10 years; $25,000–$49,999 → 15 years; $50,000–$99,999 → 20 years; $100,000+ → 25 years). Any income-driven plan may end with a remaining balance projected for forgiveness at the end of its term.

Federal repayment rules changed substantially in 2026: the SAVE plan was vacated by a federal court in March 2026, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) replaced SAVE, PAYE, and ICR with RAP and the Tiered Standard Plan for loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2026. This tool uses simplified, good-faith estimates based on published federal guidance for planning purposes only — always confirm exact figures with your loan servicer or studentaid.gov before making financial decisions.

The 2026 Student Loan Repayment Overhaul: What Changed

Federal student loan repayment changed more between 2025 and 2026 than in the prior decade. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law in July 2025, restructured federal repayment from the ground up. At the same time, ongoing litigation over the Biden-era SAVE plan reached a turning point: in March 2026, a federal court vacated the Department of Education's authority to implement SAVE, and the agency announced a formal transition plan later that month. If you were one of the millions of borrowers enrolled in SAVE, your loan servicer began sending transition notices starting July 1, 2026, in rolling batches through the end of the year — each notice starts a 90-day window to choose a new plan before you're auto-enrolled in a default option.

The two new plans for loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2026

Borrowers whose first federal loan disburses on or after July 1, 2026 — and anyone who consolidates on or after that date — now choose between exactly two repayment plans, with no legacy options available for those loans:

Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP): the sole income-driven option for new borrowers. Instead of the old "discretionary income above the poverty line" formula used by IBR, PAYE, and ICR, RAP applies a sliding-scale percentage directly to your full Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) — 1% at the lowest bracket, climbing one percentage point for every $10,000 of AGI, up to a 10% cap for incomes above $100,000. Borrowers with an AGI of $10,000 or less pay a flat $10 per month. Each dependent claimed on your federal tax return reduces your payment by $50/month, though the payment can never drop below $10. RAP includes two borrower-friendly guardrails the older plans lacked: an interest subsidy that waives any unpaid monthly interest instead of tacking it onto your balance, and a principal match that tops up your monthly principal reduction to at least $50 if your payment falls short. Any remaining balance is forgiven after 30 years (360 qualifying payments) — or after just 10 years for borrowers pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).

Tiered Standard Plan: the new fixed-payment option. Unlike the legacy 10-year Standard Plan, your repayment term now scales with your balance: under $25,000 pays off over 10 years, $25,000–$49,999 over 15 years, $50,000–$99,999 over 20 years, and $100,000 or more over 25 years, with a $50/month minimum payment. Payments are fixed and based purely on your balance, rate, and term — your income never enters the calculation, and there's no forgiveness at the end because the loan is designed to be fully paid off. Crucially, Tiered Standard payments do not count toward PSLF, which matters if you're pursuing public-service forgiveness.

What happens to existing borrowers

If every one of your federal loans was disbursed before July 1, 2026, you keep access to the legacy Standard, Graduated, and Extended plans, plus IBR. PAYE and ICR are being phased out — both sunset entirely by July 1, 2028, and borrowers on those plans (or on defunct SAVE) will need to actively switch to IBR or RAP, or be auto-enrolled into Standard or Tiered Standard if they take no action. Parent PLUS borrowers face a hard deadline of their own: PLUS loans lose access to every income-driven plan and forgiveness program once they're taken out on or after July 1, 2026, unless consolidated beforehand — many advisors recommend applying for consolidation by early spring 2026 to ensure it processes in time.

Choosing between RAP and Tiered Standard

Broadly, RAP tends to favor borrowers with lower current income relative to their debt, larger families (each dependent knocks $50 off the payment), or anyone still working toward PSLF, since Tiered Standard payments don't qualify. Tiered Standard tends to suit borrowers who want a predictable, fixed payoff date and expect their income to rise quickly, since RAP payments scale up with AGI and have no payment cap. Because the math depends heavily on your specific balance, income, and household situation, running both scenarios through the calculator above — and comparing them in the Repayment Plan Comparison table — is the fastest way to see which is actually cheaper for you.

Federal vs. Private Student Loans

Federal student loans come with borrower protections that private loans generally don't offer: income-driven repayment, deferment and forbearance options, subsidized interest for qualifying borrowers, and access to forgiveness programs like PSLF. Private student loans, issued by banks, credit unions, and online lenders, are underwritten based on credit history (often requiring a cosigner for students with limited credit) and repaid under whatever fixed or variable-rate schedule the lender sets — there's no federal income-driven option, no federal forgiveness path, and no automatic forbearance during hardship. The trade-off is that private rates can sometimes undercut federal rates for borrowers with excellent credit, particularly for refinancing an existing balance.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and Your Repayment Plan

PSLF forgives remaining federal Direct Loan balances after 120 qualifying monthly payments (10 years) while working full-time for a qualifying government or nonprofit employer. Not every repayment plan generates qualifying payments, though: RAP and IBR payments count toward PSLF, and the legacy Standard, Graduated, and Extended plans generally do as well, but Tiered Standard Plan payments do not count toward PSLF — a detail that trips up borrowers who assume any fixed payment qualifies the way the old 10-year Standard Plan did. If forgiveness through public service work is part of your plan, RAP is currently the only new-borrower option that keeps that path open; borrowers with pre-2026 loans should stay on IBR, Standard, Graduated, or Extended rather than switching to a non-qualifying plan.

Refinancing, Consolidation, Deferment & Forbearance

Refinancing replaces one or more loans with a new private loan, potentially at a lower rate — but refinancing federal loans into a private loan permanently forfeits federal protections (income-driven repayment, forgiveness eligibility, federal deferment). It generally only makes sense if you have strong credit, stable income, and don't expect to need federal safety nets like IDR or PSLF. Consolidation combines multiple federal loans into a single Direct Consolidation Loan at a weighted-average rate; it doesn't lower your rate, but it can restore eligibility for certain plans and forgiveness programs, and — as noted above — is currently the only way for Parent PLUS borrowers to preserve income-driven and forgiveness eligibility once new PLUS borrowing rules take effect. Deferment pauses payments (with interest not accruing on subsidized loans during the deferment period), typically for school enrollment, unemployment, or economic hardship. Forbearance also pauses payments, but interest continues accruing regardless of loan type, making it more expensive over time — it's generally a shorter-term option than deferment for temporary hardship when you don't qualify for a more targeted program.

Tips to Pay Off Student Loans Faster

• Make extra principal payments whenever possible — confirm with your servicer that extra amounts are applied to principal, not next month's payment, to get the full interest-savings benefit shown in this calculator.
• Target your highest-rate loan first if you have several loans (the avalanche method), or your smallest balance first for quick psychological wins (the snowball method).
• Set up autopay — many federal and private servicers offer a small rate discount (often 0.25%) for enrolling in automatic payments.
• Recalculate before switching plans — moving to a longer-term or income-driven plan lowers your monthly payment but usually increases total interest paid over the life of the loan; use the Repayment Plan Comparison table above to see the trade-off in dollar terms before you decide.
• Claim your student loan interest deduction at tax time if you're eligible — up to $2,500 of interest paid annually may be deductible depending on your income.
• Revisit your plan every year — federal repayment rules have changed significantly and may change again; a plan that was optimal last year may not be optimal under the current rules.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Further reading: Loan Calculator Guide — monthly payments and total interest explained.