Use our free student loan calculator to estimate your monthly student loan payment under the various student loan repayment plans: Standard (including the new Tiered Standard Plan), Graduated, Extended, IBR, RAP, PAYE, and ICR.
You can also use this standalone calculator for the upcoming Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP).
Note the SAVE plan is ending this fall. You can still see what your payment would have been under this now expired plan but you cannot enroll in it.
To use the student loan calculator, you do need to have some basics of your loan or loans - including the interest rate and payment amounts. Take the total of all your loans and the average interest rate. Or you can tackle each loan individually. After that, the student loan calculator does the rest!
Student Loan Repayment Calculator
What You Need To Know For Our Student Loan Calculator
When you are planning the details of your student loan repayment, there are definitely a few things you need to know.
Loan Amounts
You need to know your student loan balance to accurately use the calculator. For this calculator, you should either: combine all your loans into one amount, or calculate each loan individually. We recommend you calculate each loan individually, which can then help you setup the best debt payoff method - either the debt snowball or debt avalanche.
Loan Term
Beyond the loan amount, how much time is left on your loans plays a huge part in your monthly payment amount. The standard repayment plan for Federal loans is 10 years. However, if you opt into another student loan repayment plan, your loan term may be longer (up to 25 years).
On the flip side, if you've been paying your student loans for several years, your loan term may be shorter.
This calculator assumes the full loan term, so if you've already been in repayment for a bit your numbers on the Standard Plan, Extended Plan, and Graduated Plan may vary.
Interest Rate
A lot of people are concerned about their student loan interest rate - and it does play a big factor (especially for private student loans). However, for Federal loans, it plays a much smaller factor.
In fact, recent loans may have a rate as low as 2%, while those a few years old may still see rates around 6%. Old loans could see rates pushing 8-10%. Those loans may be better being refinanced, unless you're seeking student loan forgiveness.
Related: How Much Does Your Student Loan Interest Rate Really Matter?
Repayment Plan Options
The output of the calculator will show you the various monthly payments under different repayment plans. Here's what those plans are: Standard 10-Year, Graduated, Extended, IBR, PAYE, and ICR.
Does Student Loan Refinancing Make Sense?
Student loan refinancing can make sense for some borrowers, especially those with private student loans. If you have Federal student loans, refinancing typically only makes sense if you are NOT going for any type of loan forgiveness, and plan to pay off your loan within 5 years.
Remember, you're going to get the best rate on a short-term (5 years or less) variable student loan. The longer the loan, the higher the rate typically will be. It may not even be much better than your current loans.
Additional Factors To Consider
The important thing to remember with student loans (especially Federal loans), is that payment isn't the only factor to consider.
Federal loans specifically have a lot assistance options that can be very beneficial. For example, student loan forgiveness options, hardship deferment options, and income-driven repayment plans. These benefits are likely worth more than a little extra interest.
However, for private student loans, you typically don't have any of these options available, in which case student loan interest rate and term length are the biggest factors.
Finally, if you are considering refinancing your student loans, credit score and debt-to-income ratio play a big factor in getting the best rate. Make sure you know your credit score before applying so you know what to expect.
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Editor: Clint Proctor Reviewed by: Chris Muller
Robert Farrington is the founder of The College Investor and is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading voices on student loan debt and saving for college. He holds an MBA from UC San Diego Rady School of Management and has spent over 15 years researching, writing, and advising on student loans, 529 plans, financial aid programs, and saving and investing for young professionals.
Robert has been featured in the The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, NBC News, and Forbes, where he has been a regular personal finance contributor for over a decade. His work combines both professional expertise and personal experience – he successfully navigated his own student loan repayment journey and has helped thousands of readers do the same.
He is committed to making the intersection of personal finance and education transparent and accessible. You can learn more about Robert on the About Page or on his personal site RobertFarrington.com.