Student Loan Repayment Calculator 2026
Compare Standard, Graduated, Extended, IBR and the new RAP plan side-by-side. Find the lowest monthly payment and total interest cost for your situation.
Standard (10yr)
$512/mo
$61,426 total
Graduated (10yr)
Starts lower, increases every 2 years
$384/mo
$71,932 total
Extended (25yr)
$305/mo
$91,491 total
IBR (10–15% discretionary)
Only for loans disbursed before July 2026
Possible forgiveness after 20 years
$259/mo
$93,180 total
RAP (1–10% of AGI)
Replaced SAVE on July 1, 2026
Possible forgiveness after 30 years
$229/mo
$82,500 total
Monthly Payment Comparison
Total Cost Comparison
Analysis & insights
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Calculation summary
Result derived from 3 inputs. Adjust any one to test sensitivity.
Key insights
Pre-tax contributions reduce taxable income
Every dollar to 401(k), HSA, or traditional IRA reduces taxable income at your marginal bracket — typically 12-32% federal.
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This tool is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or investment advice. Consult a qualified financial professional for advice specific to your situation.
What is Student Loan Repayment?
Federal student loan repayment changed fundamentally on July 1, 2026. The SAVE plan — the most generous income-driven option ever offered — was vacated by a federal court on March 10, 2026, and has been replaced by the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). Roughly 7.5 million borrowers who were enrolled in SAVE are being moved off it.
This matters more than a name change, because RAP calculates payments on a completely different basis. Every previous income-driven plan charged a percentage of discretionary income — your income above a multiple of the federal poverty line. RAP charges a percentage of your full adjusted gross income, with no poverty-line protection at all.
The practical effect is that lower earners generally pay more under RAP than under SAVE, while gaining two protections SAVE borrowers fought for: unpaid interest is waived rather than capitalised, and the Department contributes toward principal when your payment does not reduce it. Understanding which plan you are eligible for, and what each actually costs over its full term, is now a genuinely consequential decision.
The formula — how to calculate Student Loan Repayment
- P
- = loan principal
- r
- = monthly interest rate (annual ÷ 12)
- n
- = number of payments — 120 for standard 10-year
- AGI
- = full adjusted gross income — NOT discretionary income, which is what makes RAP different
- tier rate
- = 1% to 10%, set by which of 11 income bands your AGI falls into
Legacy income-driven plans use discretionary income = AGI − (federal poverty guideline × a multiplier, commonly 1.5). RAP removes that subtraction entirely, which is the single biggest structural change.
Step-by-step example
- 01A borrower has $45,000 in Direct Loans at 6.5%, earns $62,000 AGI, and has no dependents.
- 02Standard 10-year plan: M = 45,000 × [0.005417 × 1.005417¹²⁰] ÷ [1.005417¹²⁰ − 1] ≈ $511 per month.
- 03Total repaid on Standard ≈ $61,300, of which about $16,300 is interest.
- 04RAP: $62,000 falls in the $60,001–$70,000 band, charged at 6% of AGI.
- 05$62,000 × 6% = $3,720 per year ÷ 12 ≈ $310 per month.
- 06With two dependents, that drops by $100 to roughly $210 per month.
- 07RAP is $201 a month cheaper than Standard — but runs up to 30 years before forgiveness rather than clearing the balance in 10.
- 08The trade is explicit: lower payment now, far more interest and a much longer obligation, unless you are pursuing PSLF, in which case RAP payments count toward the 120-payment requirement.
The RAP payment table
RAP sorts your adjusted gross income into one of eleven bands and applies that band's percentage to your entire AGI. There is no poverty-line exclusion, so the percentage applies from the first dollar.
RAP monthly payment by adjusted gross income
| Annual AGI | Rate applied to full AGI | Example monthly payment |
|---|---|---|
| $0 – $10,000 | Flat minimum | $10 |
| $10,001 – $20,000 | 1% | ≈ $13 at $15,000 |
| $20,001 – $30,000 | 2% | ≈ $42 at $25,000 |
| $30,001 – $40,000 | 3% | ≈ $88 at $35,000 |
| $40,001 – $50,000 | 4% | ≈ $150 at $45,000 |
| $50,001 – $60,000 | 5% | ≈ $229 at $55,000 |
| $60,001 – $70,000 | 6% | ≈ $325 at $65,000 |
| $70,001 – $80,000 | 7% | ≈ $438 at $75,000 |
| $80,001 – $90,000 | 8% | ≈ $567 at $85,000 |
| $90,001 – $100,000 | 9% | ≈ $713 at $95,000 |
| $100,001 and above | 10% | ≈ $917 at $110,000 |
Subtract $50 per month for each dependent claimed on your tax return. Minimum payment is $10 regardless of income. Verify current figures at StudentAid.gov — this area is actively changing.
Two protections RAP adds
If your payment does not cover the interest accruing, the unpaid interest is waived rather than added to your balance — so RAP balances do not grow through negative amortisation. And if your payment reduces principal by less than $50, the Department contributes up to $50 per month toward principal. Both are genuine improvements over IBR and PAYE.
Which plans still exist, and for whom
Eligibility now depends heavily on when your loans were disbursed, which is an unusual and easily missed distinction.
Plan availability after July 1, 2026
| Plan | Status | Forgiveness |
|---|---|---|
| SAVE | Vacated March 10, 2026 — being wound down | N/A |
| RAP | Live. The only income-driven plan for loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2026 | 30 years |
| IBR | Still available, but only for loans disbursed before July 2026 | 20 or 25 years depending on cohort |
| PAYE | Sunsetting by July 1, 2028 | 20 years |
| ICR | Sunsetting by July 1, 2028 | 25 years |
| Standard (10-year) | Unchanged, and remains PSLF-qualifying | Loan clears in 10 years |
| Graduated / Extended | Unchanged | Loan clears at end of term |
Parent PLUS loans, and consolidation loans containing Parent PLUS, are not eligible for RAP.
SAVE borrowers have a 90-day window
Servicers are notifying the roughly 7.5 million SAVE enrollees that they must select a new plan within 90 days. Borrowers who do not respond are auto-enrolled into Standard or a Tiered Standard plan — which can mean a substantially higher payment arriving without warning. If you were on SAVE, do not let the notice sit.
The 30-year timeline is the real cost
RAP forgives any remaining balance after 30 years. Most legacy income-driven plans forgave after 20 or 25. For a borrower not pursuing PSLF, that additional decade is the most consequential change in the whole reform.
A lower monthly payment stretched across 30 years usually means paying substantially more in total than a 10-year Standard plan, even accounting for the interest waiver. Income-driven repayment is a cash-flow tool, not a savings tool — it lowers what you pay this month, generally at the cost of what you pay overall.
The exception is borrowers whose balance is large relative to income, where forgiveness is realistically going to be reached. For them, minimising payments to maximise the eventually-forgiven amount is rational. For a borrower who will clear the balance anyway, income-driven repayment simply adds interest.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness still works, and still pays
PSLF forgives the remaining balance after 120 qualifying monthly payments — ten years — while working full-time for a government body or qualifying non-profit. Payments made under RAP count toward that 120, as do payments under other income-driven plans and the Standard plan.
For anyone genuinely on a PSLF track, the arithmetic reverses. Minimising each payment maximises the balance ultimately forgiven, so the lowest-payment qualifying plan is the correct choice rather than the fastest-payoff one.
The recurring failure in PSLF is administrative, not financial: wrong loan type, wrong plan, an employer that does not qualify, or payments made while not certified. Submit the employment certification form annually rather than at year ten, so problems surface while they can still be fixed.
- Qualifying employment —
- full-time work for federal, state, local or tribal government, or a 501(c)(3) non-profit. The employer determines eligibility, not your job title.
- Qualifying loans —
- Direct Loans. FFEL and Perkins loans generally must be consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan first.
- Qualifying payments —
- 120 separate monthly payments; they need not be consecutive, but they must be made under a qualifying plan while employed full-time by a qualifying employer.
- Certification —
- file the PSLF form annually and whenever you change employer, so your count is tracked as you go.
Refinancing privately: the one-way door
Private refinancing can meaningfully lower a rate for borrowers with strong credit and stable income. It also permanently converts federal loans into private debt, and that conversion cannot be reversed.
What you give up is substantial: eligibility for RAP and every income-driven plan, PSLF, federal deferment and forbearance protections, and the death and disability discharge provisions. A borrower who refinances and then loses their job has none of the federal safety net remaining.
The decision therefore turns less on the rate saving than on how likely you are to need those protections. A high earner in a stable field with a small balance relative to income is a reasonable candidate. Anyone who might pursue PSLF, or whose income is variable, generally should not refinance federal loans privately.
Key considerations
- Check your loan disbursement dates. Loans issued on or after July 1, 2026 can only use RAP among income-driven plans.
- If you were on SAVE, respond to your servicer within the 90-day window rather than being auto-enrolled.
- RAP uses full AGI, so anything that lowers AGI — traditional 401(k), HSA, deductible IRA contributions — lowers your payment.
- Married borrowers should model filing separately versus jointly; filing status affects the AGI used and can change the payment substantially.
- Recertify income annually. Missing recertification can push you to a much higher payment.
- If pursuing PSLF, certify employment every year rather than waiting until the end.
- Parent PLUS loans and consolidations containing them are excluded from RAP — check before assuming eligibility.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Assuming SAVE still exists. It was vacated in March 2026 and replaced by RAP on July 1.
- Applying discretionary-income logic to RAP. RAP charges a percentage of full AGI with no poverty-line exclusion.
- Ignoring the servicer notice and being auto-enrolled into a Standard plan at a much higher payment.
- Choosing an income-driven plan for the low payment while intending to repay in full — that combination maximises interest.
- Refinancing federal loans privately while on a PSLF track, permanently forfeiting forgiveness.
- Failing to recertify income annually.
- Overlooking that RAP forgiveness takes 30 years, a decade longer than most legacy plans.
Frequently asked questions
Sources & references
Written and fact-checked by the CalcProLabs Editorial Team against Department of Education 2026 repayment rules. Read our calculation methodology and editorial policy.
Last updated