Student Loan Calculator

Work out your federal student loan payment, total interest and payoff date under every repayment plan. With the defaults below — a $30,000 Direct Unsubsidized undergraduate loan at 6.52% on the Standard 10-year plan — the monthly payment is $340.95, the total interest is $10,913.92 and the total paid is $40,913.92 over 120 months.

Federal student loans changed in 2026. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act split borrowers into two groups at July 1, 2026: loans first disbursed before that date keep the old menu of plans, while loans first disbursed on or after that date have only two options — the new Tiered Standard plan and the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). The calculator below asks when your loan was first disbursed and only offers the plans you can actually choose, so the answer always matches the current rules.

How Student Loan Payments Are Calculated

A student loan payment comes from the same amortization formula as any other loan: the monthly payment is set so that, after the same payment every month, the balance reaches zero exactly at the end of the term. The three inputs are the balance, the fixed interest rate and the number of months. Federal student loan rates are fixed by law when the loan is first disbursed, so the rate never changes for the life of the loan, and it does not depend on your credit score. That is the single biggest difference between federal and private student loans, and it is why the calculator above can give you an exact answer from just three numbers.

On the default loan — $30,000 at 6.52% over 120 months — the formula gives $340.95 a month. Multiply by 120 payments and the total paid is $40,913.92, of which $10,913.92 is interest. The first month’s interest is $30,000 times 6.52% divided by 12, which is $163.00, so $177.95 of the first $340.95 payment goes to principal. Each month the interest falls slightly and the principal share rises, until the final payment is almost entirely principal. The loan payment calculator uses the same formula for any loan, and the compound interest calculator shows the same maths working in reverse when interest works for you instead of against you.

Notice that the graduate loan costs more even though the balance is the same $30,000: the 8.07% graduate rate adds $24.14 a month and $2,897.28 of interest over ten years compared with the 6.52% undergraduate rate. Borrowing for graduate school is more expensive by law, which is why graduate borrowers should check the limits and the rates before they sign.

Federal Student Loan Interest Rates 2026-27

Federal Direct Loan rates for the 2026-27 academic year apply to loans first disbursed between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2027. The rates are set by a formula in the law — the 10-year Treasury note yield plus a fixed add-on — and capped by statute. The figures below come from the Federal Student Aid announcement GENERAL-26-33 and the studentaid.gov rates page.

Rates rose slightly from 2025-26: undergraduate loans went from 6.39% to 6.52%, graduate loans from 7.94% to 8.07%, and PLUS loans from 8.94% to 9.07%. The caps matter if Treasury yields rise further — undergraduate rates can never pass 8.25%, graduate rates never pass 9.50%, and PLUS rates never pass 10.50%.

Origination fees and the autopay discount

• Origination fee: 1.057% on Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans, and 4.228% on PLUS loans, for loans first disbursed before October 1, 2027. The fee is taken out of the disbursement, so you receive slightly less than you borrow but you repay the full amount.
• Autopay discount: normally 0.25% off the rate for enrolling in automatic payments. The discount is temporarily 1% through June 30, 2028 for borrowers who enrol by December 31, 2026, so check the current studentaid.gov guidance before you rely on it.
• Subsidized vs unsubsidized: on a subsidized loan the government pays the interest while you are in school at least half-time, during the grace period and during deferment. On an unsubsidized loan the interest accrues from the day the money is disbursed, and unpaid interest capitalises when repayment starts.

For the official rates, see Federal Student Aid — interest rates and the FSA Partners announcement GENERAL-26-33.

The Standard Plan: 10 Years

The Standard plan is the default for every federal loan: fixed payments over 10 years, or 120 months. It is the cheapest plan in total interest, because the term is the shortest, and it is the plan the calculator uses as its default. On a $30,000 loan at 6.52%, the Standard payment is $340.95 and the total interest is $10,913.92. On a $20,000 loan the payment is $227.30 with $7,275.94 of interest, and on a $50,000 loan it is $568.25 with $18,189.86 of interest.

Standard is also one of the three plans that count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness, alongside IBR and RAP, which matters if you work for a government agency or a qualifying non-profit. Its weakness is the payment itself: $340.95 a month is a lot on a starting salary, which is why so many borrowers choose a longer or income-based plan and accept the extra interest. If you can afford the Standard payment, take it — it is the fastest and cheapest way out of the debt.

• Term: 120 months, fixed.
• Payment: fixed, the same every month.
• Cheapest total interest of any fixed plan.
• PSLF-eligible: yes, Standard counts toward the 120 qualifying payments.
• Minimum payment: $50 a month, even on small balances.

The New Tiered Standard Plan

Tiered Standard is the new standard plan created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Instead of a flat 10 years for everyone, the term depends on the balance: the more you owe, the longer you get. It is the only fixed-payment plan available to borrowers whose loans were first disbursed on or after July 1, 2026, alongside RAP, and it is also available to older borrowers who choose it.

On the default $30,000 loan, Tiered Standard gives a 15-year term and a payment of $261.66, which is $79.29 less a month than the Standard $340.95 — but the total interest is $17,099.19 instead of $10,913.92, a difference of $6,185.27. That is the trade at the heart of every longer plan: a smaller monthly payment bought with thousands of dollars of extra interest. A $50,000 loan on the 20-year tier costs $373.38 a month, against $568.25 on the Standard 10-year plan, but the total interest is $39,610.13 against $18,189.86. Tiered Standard does not count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness at the end of the term, so it is a pure trade of lower payments for higher cost.

Graduated Repayment: Start Low, Pay More Later

Graduated repayment starts with a low payment that rises every two years, on the assumption that your income will rise too. Payments increase by about 7% every two years and the loan still clears in 120 months. On the default $30,000 loan at 6.52%, the payments run $301.68 for years 1–2, $322.80 for years 3–4, $345.40 for years 5–6, $369.58 for years 7–8 and $395.45 for years 9–10, with total interest of $11,637.66 — $723.74 more than the Standard plan.

Graduated suits borrowers whose income will genuinely rise — a medical resident, a junior lawyer, a teacher moving up the pay scale. It is a poor choice if your income is flat, because the later payments can become unaffordable just when the balance is still large. Graduated does not count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness, so public servants should avoid it. The first payment of $301.68 is only $138.68 above the $163.00 of monthly interest, so the balance falls slowly at first and most of the principal is repaid in the last few years.

Extended Repayment: 25 Years

Extended repayment stretches the term to 25 years, or 300 months, and cuts the payment to $202.94 on the default loan — $138.01 less a month than the Standard $340.95. The price is brutal: total interest of $30,881.17, which is more than the $30,000 borrowed, and a total paid of $60,881.17. You pay for the car twice over, except this is a degree. Extended is available only to borrowers with more than $30,000 of federal loans, and only for loans first disbursed before July 1, 2026. It does not count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

Extended makes sense in only one situation: when the Standard payment is genuinely unaffordable and the income-based plans are not available or do not help. For most borrowers, an income-based plan is better than Extended, because the payment is tied to what you earn and the remaining balance can be forgiven after 20 or 25 years. If you do choose Extended, pay extra whenever you can — every extra dollar shortens the 25 years and cuts the $30,881.17 of interest.

• Payment: $202.94 a month on $30,000 at 6.52%.
• Total interest: $30,881.17 — more than the loan itself.
• Available to: borrowers with over $30,000 of federal loans, disbursed before July 1, 2026.
• PSLF-eligible: no.
• Forgiveness: none at the end of the term — you pay until the balance is zero.

Income-Based Repayment (IBR)

IBR sets your payment from your income instead of your balance. The payment is 10% of your discretionary income, divided by 12, and it is capped at the Standard 10-year payment. Discretionary income is your adjusted gross income minus 150% of the federal poverty guideline for your family size. The 2026 poverty guidelines for the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia are $15,960 for a family of one, plus $5,680 for each additional person. Alaska’s guideline is $19,950 and Hawaii’s is $18,360.

Worked example: a single borrower with an AGI of $50,000 has discretionary income of $50,000 minus $23,940, which is $26,060. Ten percent of that is $2,606 a year, or $217.17 a month — well below the Standard payment of $340.95, so $217.17 is the IBR payment. The calculator shows that at $217.17 a month the loan would take about 257 months to clear, with roughly $25,652.14 of interest, because the payment is only $54.17 above the $163.00 of monthly interest at the start. IBR payments are recalculated every year from your income, so the payment rises as your income rises, and the real payoff is usually faster than this flat estimate.

The negative amortisation warning

If your IBR payment is lower than the monthly interest, the balance grows even while you pay. On the default loan the interest is $163.00 a month, so an IBR payment below $163.00 means the balance rises. That is called negative amortisation, and it is the biggest risk of any income-based plan. The balance is forgiven after 20 years of qualifying payments on the 10% version of IBR, or 25 years on the 15% version for borrowers who first borrowed before July 1, 2014, but the forgiven amount may be taxed as income, and the balance will be larger if you leave IBR later. IBR counts toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which forgives the balance after 120 qualifying payments without the tax problem.

• Payment: 10% of discretionary income, monthly, capped at the Standard payment.
• Recalculated: every year, from your tax return.
• Forgiveness: after 20 years (10% version) or 25 years (15% version, first borrowed before July 1, 2014).
• PSLF-eligible: yes.
• Risk: negative amortisation if the payment is below the monthly interest.

The Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP)

RAP is the new income-based plan created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and it is one of only two plans available to borrowers whose loans were first disbursed on or after July 1, 2026, alongside Tiered Standard. The payment runs from 1% to 10% of your adjusted gross income, divided by 12, minus $50 a month for each dependent, and it is never below $10 a month. The exact percentage depends on your income: lower incomes pay the lower end of the range, higher incomes the higher end.

For an AGI of $50,000, the range before the dependent reduction is $41.67 to $416.67 a month. The calculator shows that range rather than a single number, because the exact payment depends on where your income falls in the scale and on your family size, and the official Loan Simulator is the only place to get your exact figure. RAP counts toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and the government may subsidise unpaid interest under RAP, though the details are still being finalised. Unlike the old plans, RAP has no separate partial-financial-hardship test — any borrower in the new system can use it.

• Payment: 1% to 10% of AGI, divided by 12, minus $50 per dependent, minimum $10 a month.
• Available to: all borrowers, and the only income-based plan for loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2026.
• PSLF-eligible: yes.
• Forgiveness: after 360 qualifying payments over at least 30 years.
• Exact payment: use the official Loan Simulator — this page shows the range only.

Two Borrower Groups: The July 1, 2026 Split

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed on July 4, 2025, split federal student loan borrowers into two groups at July 1, 2026. Which group you are in depends on when your loan was first disbursed, not on when you graduated or when you start repaying. The calculator above asks the question first, because it changes the whole menu of plans.

Three other changes matter. The SAVE plan ended in March 2026 and is not an option for anyone — do not look for it in the calculator, and be wary of any site that still lists it as a live plan. Grad PLUS loans ended for new borrowers for periods of instruction beginning on or after July 1, 2026, so graduate students can no longer borrow the full cost of attendance through PLUS and must work within the new graduate limits. And PAYE and ICR, the two older income-based plans, are being wound down and will end no later than July 1, 2028, so borrowers on those plans need to move to IBR or RAP before then.

• SAVE ended March 2026. It is not a live plan and the calculator does not offer it.
• Grad PLUS ended for new borrowers from July 1, 2026.
• PAYE and ICR end no later than July 1, 2028.
• Your group is set by first disbursement date, not by graduation or repayment start.

Federal vs Private Student Loans

Federal and private student loans are different worlds, and the choice between them matters more than the rate on the day you sign. Federal loans have fixed rates set by law, income-based repayment, forgiveness options and generous deferment. Private loans have rates set by the lender from your credit score, no income-based plans, no forgiveness, and fewer protections if you lose your income. Always borrow the federal maximum before you consider a private loan.

Private loans make sense in exactly one situation: when you have borrowed the federal maximum, you have compared several private offers, and the private rate is clearly lower than the federal rate for your loan type. Even then, weigh the loss of income-based repayment and forgiveness against the rate saving. A private loan at 5% with no safety net can be worse than a federal loan at 6.52% with one, if your income is uncertain.

How Much Should You Borrow? Federal Limits 2026

Federal borrowing is capped by law, and the caps changed for new borrowers from July 1, 2026. The table below gives the annual and aggregate limits for Direct Loans. The lifetime cap across all federal loans is $257,500. Borrow less than the maximum whenever you can — every dollar borrowed at 6.52% costs $1.36 over ten years, so a $5,000 smaller loan saves $1,819 of interest.

Note the graduate limit: $20,500 a year and $100,000 in total for new borrowers, with Grad PLUS no longer available to fill the gap. Graduate students who need more than $20,500 a year must find the rest from savings, work, scholarships or private loans. Professional students in medicine, law and similar programmes have higher limits of $50,000 a year and $200,000 in total. Parent PLUS is capped at $20,000 a year per dependent and $65,000 in total, which is a sharp change from the old rule that let parents borrow the full cost of attendance.

• Borrow only what you need. Every $1,000 borrowed at 6.52% costs about $1,364 over ten years.
• Use subsidized loans first. The government pays the interest while you are in school.
• Work part-time if you can. Even $200 a month of earnings cuts the amount you borrow.
• Check the salary calculator to see what your first job will actually pay after tax, and whether the Standard payment fits.

Extra Payments and Paying Off Early

There is no prepayment penalty on federal student loans, and extra payments are the cheapest way to cut the total cost. On the default $30,000 loan at 6.52%, adding $100 a month to the $340.95 Standard payment clears the loan in 86 months instead of 120, and the total interest falls from $10,913.92 to $7,554.74 — a saving of $3,359.17 and 34 months. The calculator’s extra-payment field works on every fixed plan, so you can test any amount.

Paying the interest while you are still in school

Interest-only payments are the floor, not a plan. The interest on $30,000 at 6.52% is $163.00 a month, and paying only that leaves the balance exactly where it started. If you are in school or in a grace period, paying the $163.00 of interest each month stops the balance from growing, which is worth doing if you can afford it — unpaid interest capitalises when repayment starts, so one year of unpaid interest on $30,000 at 6.52% adds $1,956 to the balance before the first real payment.

• Extra $100 a month: 86 months, interest $7,554.74, saves $3,359.17 and 34 months.
• Extra $200 a month: use the calculator to see the saving on your own balance.
• Pay the interest while in school: $163.00 a month on $30,000 stops the balance from growing.
• Target the highest-rate loan first: if you have several loans, extra payments go furthest on the 8.07% or 9.07% loan.
• Tell your servicer the extra goes to principal. Otherwise it may be applied to future scheduled payments instead.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

PSLF forgives the remaining balance after 120 qualifying monthly payments — ten years — for borrowers who work full-time for a government agency or a qualifying non-profit organisation. The payments must be made under a qualifying plan, on time, while employed full-time by a qualifying employer. The three qualifying plans are the 10-year Standard plan, IBR and RAP. Tiered Standard, Graduated and Extended do not count, which is a trap for borrowers who switch to a longer plan for a lower payment and discover years later that none of those payments counted.

1. Work for a qualifying employer. Government at any level, or a 501(c)(3) non-profit, full-time.
2. Use a qualifying plan. Standard, IBR or RAP. Not Tiered Standard, Graduated or Extended.
3. Make 120 qualifying payments. They do not need to be consecutive, but they must be on time and for the full amount due.
4. Certify your employment every year. Submit the PSLF form annually so your count is tracked.
5. Apply for forgiveness after the 120th payment. The remaining balance is forgiven tax-free.

One more trap: if you take out a new Direct Loan on or after July 1, 2026, all of your Direct Loans fall under the new plan menu — only RAP and Tiered Standard. Since Tiered Standard does not count for PSLF, a public servant who borrows again after that date must use RAP to keep earning qualifying payments. Check your plan before you borrow, not after.

Common Student Loan Mistakes

1. Choosing Graduated or Extended and losing PSLF. Neither counts toward the 120 payments, and the years do not come back.
2. Ignoring the July 1, 2026 split. New loans mean a new plan menu — only RAP and Tiered Standard.
3. Looking for the SAVE plan. SAVE ended in March 2026. Any site still listing it is out of date.
4. Borrowing the maximum by default. Every dollar costs $1.36 over ten years at 6.52%.
5. Not paying interest while in school. Unpaid interest capitalises and the balance grows before repayment starts.
6. Refinancing federal loans into private loans. You lose income-based repayment, forgiveness and deferment forever.
7. Missing the annual IBR recertification. If you do not recertify, your payment jumps to the Standard amount.
8. Paying extra without directing it to principal. Confirm with your servicer that extra payments reduce the balance.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the monthly payment on a $30,000 student loan?

At 6.52% on the Standard 10-year plan, the payment is $340.95 a month, with $10,913.92 of total interest. On the Tiered Standard 15-year plan it is $261.66 a month, and on the Extended 25-year plan it is $202.94 a month, but the total interest rises to $17,099.19 and $30,881.17.

What is the student loan interest rate for 2026-27?

Undergraduate Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans are 6.52%, graduate Unsubsidized loans are 8.07%, and Direct PLUS loans are 9.07%, for loans first disbursed between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2027. The rates are fixed by law and do not depend on your credit score.

What happened to the SAVE plan?

SAVE ended in March 2026 and is no longer available. Borrowers who were on SAVE need to move to another plan — IBR or RAP for older loans, or RAP for loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2026. Do not trust any site that still lists SAVE as a live option.

Can I get my student loans forgiven?

Public Service Loan Forgiveness forgives the balance after 120 qualifying payments while working full-time for a government agency or qualifying non-profit, under the Standard, IBR or RAP plans. IBR forgives the balance after 20 years on the 10% version or 25 years on the 15% version, and RAP forgives it after 360 qualifying payments over at least 30 years. Tiered Standard, Graduated and Extended have no forgiveness.

Should I pay extra on my student loan?

Yes, if you have no higher-rate debt and a small emergency fund. An extra $100 a month on a $30,000 loan at 6.52% clears it in 86 months instead of 120 and saves $3,359.17 in interest. There is no prepayment penalty on federal student loans.

Is a private student loan ever better than a federal one?

Only when you have borrowed the federal maximum, the private rate is clearly lower, and you are confident your income will stay stable. A private loan has no income-based repayment, no forgiveness and fewer protections, so the rate saving must be large enough to be worth giving those up. Compare the total cost in the calculator before you decide, and check the auto loan calculator for the same amortisation maths on a car loan.

Disclaimer: This calculator is for general information only and is not financial advice. Federal student loan rules changed in 2026 and continue to be updated, so verify the current rates, plans and eligibility on studentaid.gov or with your loan servicer before making a decision. Use the official Loan Simulator for your exact income-based payment. Talk to a financial adviser or a student loan counsellor for advice about your own situation.