Student loan repayment plans calculator
Standard, Extended, Graduated, Tiered Standard and RAP side by side.
The balance, rate, income and Graduated step are example inputs — use your own (your servicer shows the real rate). Income-driven plans other than RAP are not calculated; Graduated is our illustration.
How each plan is calculated
The fixed plans use the ordinary loan payment formula: payment = balance × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)−n), where r is the interest rate divided by 12 and n is the number of months in the plan, with a minimum payment of $50. The plans differ only in n: 120 months for Standard, 300 for Extended, and 120 to 300 for Tiered Standard depending on the balance. Graduated starts low and rises in steps; the federal rule only requires payments at two or more levels with no payment more than three times any other one, so the step size on the form is our illustration. The first payment is solved so that the loan is repaid exactly in ten years. Under the Repayment Assistance Plan the payment comes from your income instead of the balance, as described in the questions below, and the loan is simulated month by month for up to 360 payments.
Worked example
Take a $40,000 Direct Loan at 6.5% with an adjusted gross income of $50,000. If the loans were made before July 1, 2026, Standard costs $454.19 a month for 10 years and $54,503 in total, of which $14,503 is interest. Extended (balance over $30,000) costs $270.08 a month for 25 years and $81,025 in total. Graduated, with a 20% rise every two years, begins at $319.85 and ends at $663.24, for $57,125 in total. RAP asks $166.67 a month, and after 30 years the plan has collected $60,000 and forgives $22,000. If the loans were made on or after July 1, 2026, the choices are Tiered Standard ($348.44 a month for 15 years, $62,720 in total) and RAP. The cheapest in total here is Standard; the lowest first payment is Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP).
Limits of this method and common mistakes
One rate, one loan. The calculator treats your loans as one balance at one rate. Real borrowers often hold several loans at different rates, and servicers apply payments across them; combine them by weighted average for a rough answer. Your current plan. The plan your servicer has you on decides the payment you owe today; compare it with the rows here before you ask to switch. Income changes the RAP payment. It is recalculated yearly from your latest tax return, so a flat income in the example is a simplification; the growth box shows the effect of raises. Interest is simple here. Interest accrues on principal; interest the payment cannot cover waits as unpaid interest without earning more interest, and capitalization events such as consolidation are left out. Tax on forgiveness. Forgiven balances under income-driven plans can be taxable income after 2025, so a large forgiven amount is not the same as free money.
Frequently asked questions
Which repayment plans exist for federal student loans?
It depends on when your Direct Loans were made. For loans made before July 1, 2026, the fixed plans are Standard (10 years), Extended (up to 25 years, when you owe more than $30,000 in Direct Loans and are a "new borrower" in the sense of 34 CFR 685.208) and Graduated (payments in at least two levels, over up to 10 years). For loans made on or after July 1, 2026, the fixed plan is Tiered Standard, with a term of 10, 15, 20 or 25 years depending on the balance, and you may also choose the new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). Older income-driven plans (IBR, PAYE, ICR) remain only for loans made before July 1, 2026, and are not calculated here.
How does the Repayment Assistance Plan work?
RAP bases the payment on your adjusted gross income (AGI), and on your spouse's if you file jointly. The yearly base payment is $120 if AGI is $10,000 or less. Above that it is 1% of your whole AGI for AGI from $10,000 up to $20,000, and one percentage point more for each further $10,000 band, up to 10% of AGI above $100,000. The monthly payment is that base divided by 12, minus $50 for each dependent, and never less than $10. For example, AGI of $50,000 falls in the 4% band ($40,000–$50,000) and gives a base of $2,000 a year, $166.67 a month; with two dependents it is $66.67. Because the percentage applies to the whole AGI, a raise that moves you into the next band raises the payment on all of it. For AGI of $18,000 the payment is $15.00 a month (34 CFR 685.209).
What happens to unpaid interest and principal under RAP?
Under RAP, if your on-time payment does not cover the interest, the unpaid interest is not charged to your account. And if the payment reduces your principal by less than $50 in a month, the government reduces the principal by the difference, up to $50 or the amount of your payment if that is less (34 CFR 685.209(h)(4) and (o)(2)). After 360 qualifying monthly payments the balance that remains is forgiven. In the example, a $40,000 balance at 6.5% with $50,000 of AGI starts at $166.67 a month, which is less than the monthly interest, so the balance falls by $50 a month through the match; after 360 payments you will have paid $60,000 and $22,000 is forgiven.
Is a lower monthly payment always better?
No. The lowest payment usually means more interest and a longer time. In the example, Standard costs $454.19 a month and $54,503 in total over 10 years. Extended drops the payment to $270.08 but the total rises to $81,025 over 25 years, and RAP's $166.67 brings $60,000 of payments over 30 years with $22,000 forgiven. If your income rises the RAP payment does too, so the example (with no income growth) is only an illustration. The right plan depends on your income stability, job and goals; if you work toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness, the plan that pays the least in 10 years may be the best.
What is Tiered Standard and how long is the term?
Tiered Standard is the fixed plan for loans made on or after July 1, 2026. The term depends on the total of your Direct Loans when repayment starts: under $25,000, 10 years; $25,000 to under $50,000, 15 years; $50,000 to under $100,000, 20 years; $100,000 or more, 25 years, with a minimum payment of $50 (34 CFR 685.208(c)(1)). A $40,000 balance falls in the 15-year tier (15 years): at 6.5% that is $348.44 a month and $62,720 in total, compared with $454.19 and $54,503 on a 10-year Standard plan for the same balance.
Is forgiven student loan debt taxed?
Forgiveness under Public Service Loan Forgiveness remains tax-free federally. For other forgiveness, the American Rescue Plan Act exclusion applied only to loans forgiven after December 31, 2021 and on or before December 31, 2025. The IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service says that forgiveness under an income-driven plan in 2026 or later is generally taxable income, reported on Form 1099-C for the year of cancellation. Some states have their own rules. This calculator shows forgiven amounts before any tax; ask a tax professional when a large balance could be cancelled.
Estimates for planning only — not financial advice. Your loan servicer's figures decide, and the rules change; check studentaid.gov before you choose a plan. Sources, checked October 28, 2026: eCFR, 34 CFR 685.208 (repayment plans), 685.209 (Repayment Assistance Plan: paragraphs (b)(2), (f)(5), (h)(4), (k)(7), (o)(2)), as published in 91 Federal Register 23886 (May 1, 2026); IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service, What to Know about Student Loan Forgiveness and Your Taxes (March 2026). The Loan Simulator on studentaid.gov uses your actual loans. Related: the student loan calculator, PSLF calculator, loan calculator and debt payoff calculator. How we check our calculators.