Compare the Tiered Standard Plan, RAP and every federal repayment option with 2026 rates, plus in-school interest and extra payments.
Estimates for planning only, not an offer of credit or financial advice. Rates, fees, plan rules and tier thresholds are from the U.S. Department of Education (studentaid.gov), verified 2026-08-06. Your servicer's figures are authoritative.
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Federal student loan repayment changed on July 1, 2026. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act closed the 10-year Standard Plan to new Direct Loans and replaced it with the Tiered Standard Plan, whose term is set by how much you owe, alongside a new income-driven option called the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). This calculator applies those rules for you: enter a balance and it shows every plan you qualify for side by side, with the monthly payment, the term and the lifetime cost of each. It also handles the part most calculators skip — the interest that builds while you are still enrolled, and the origination fee that means you repay more than you were handed.
A student loan calculator turns a balance and an interest rate into a monthly payment, a payoff date and a lifetime interest figure. For federal loans the missing piece is the plan: the same 40,000 balance costs 348.88 a month over 15 years on the Tiered Standard Plan, or 100.00 a month on RAP if your AGI is 40,000 — a difference no single-answer calculator can express. Fixed plans use the standard amortization formula, where the term comes from your balance tier rather than from you. RAP does not amortize at all: it bills a percentage band of your adjusted gross income, forgives the interest your payment does not cover, and discharges whatever is left after 360 qualifying payments.
Fixed-plan monthly payment
A 2026 borrower has exactly two options. Enter your balance and AGI to see which is cheaper monthly, which is cheaper overall, and how far apart they are.
In-school mode adds four years of accrual and the origination fee, so you see the real first bill instead of a payment on the amount you borrowed.
Adding 100 a month to a 40,000 Tiered Standard balance saves 7,960.69 in interest and clears the loan four years and nine months early.
If you have taken no new loan since July 1, 2026, the Standard, Graduated and Extended plans are still open to you. Switch the disbursement date to see all four.
Parent PLUS loans carry the highest rate at 9.07% and the highest fee at 4.228%, and they are barred from RAP entirely.
Private loans have no federal plan menu, so the calculator prices the term your lender actually set rather than pretending a federal plan applies.
The most common question about any balance, answered with the term the rules force rather than a round number.
On the Tiered Standard Plan a balance under 25,000 gets 10 years, 25,000–49,999 gets 15, 50,000–99,999 gets 20, and 100,000 or more gets 25. Assume 10 years on a 30,000 balance and you will budget 340.95 a month when your servicer will bill 261.66.
The same 30,000 at 6.52% costs 10,914 in interest over 10 years and 17,099 over the 15 years the tier actually gives you. At 120,000 the gap is 79,869.
RAP is a percentage band of AGI, so it beats the fixed plans at low incomes and loses at high ones. On a 40,000 balance the crossover sits near an AGI of 70,000 — above that, RAP costs more per month.
Unsubsidized loans accrue from disbursement. Borrow 7,000 a year for four years at 6.52% and 5,476.80 of interest capitalizes at the end of grace, so repayment starts at 33,476.80 rather than 28,000.
The origination fee is 1.057% on Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans and 4.228% on PLUS loans. Borrow 30,000 and 29,682.90 reaches your school, but 30,000 is the debt.
Payments on the Tiered Standard Plan do not qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. RAP payments generally do, which can matter more than the monthly figure.
About 676.46 a month. A balance of 100,000 or more falls in the top Tiered Standard band, which gives 25 years, and at the 2026–27 undergraduate rate of 6.52% that repays 202,937 in total — 102,937 of it interest. On RAP the payment would instead be 10% of your AGI divided by 12.
About 522.73 a month. 70,000 sits in the 50,000–99,999 band, so the Tiered Standard Plan gives 20 years; at 6.52% the total repaid is 125,454, including 55,454 of interest.
15 years on the Tiered Standard Plan, because 40,000 falls in the 25,000–49,999 band. That is 348.88 a month and 22,799 of interest. Adding 100 a month cuts it to 10 years and 3 months and saves 7,960.69.
It is below the U.S. average and it is the one range where the familiar 10-year term still applies — balances under 25,000 stay on a 10-year Tiered Standard term. At 6.52% that is 170.47 a month and 5,457 of interest over the life of the loan.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act took effect. Direct Loans first disbursed on or after that date can no longer use the Standard, Graduated or Extended plans; the choice is the new Tiered Standard Plan or the Repayment Assistance Plan. Taking any new loan on or after that date also ends your access to IBR, ICR and PAYE, and Grad PLUS loans are no longer offered.
It is the servicer default for Direct Loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2026, and its term comes from your balance: under 25,000 gets 10 years, 25,000–49,999 gets 15, 50,000–99,999 gets 20, and 100,000 or more gets 25. Payments are fixed and at least 50 a month. Payments on this plan do not count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
RAP is the income-driven plan created by the 2025 law. Your annual base payment is a band of your adjusted gross income — 1% at 10,001–20,000 rising a point per 10,000 to 10% above 100,000, with a flat 120 a year at or below 10,000 — divided by 12, less 50 per dependent, and never under 10 a month. Unpaid interest is forgiven each month, so the balance cannot grow, and any remainder is discharged after 360 qualifying payments over at least 30 years.
RAP is cheaper monthly at lower incomes and more expensive at higher ones. On a 40,000 balance the two cross near an AGI of 70,000: below that RAP bills less, above it the Tiered Standard Plan does. RAP also keeps you eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness and stops your balance growing, while the Tiered Standard Plan clears the debt sooner and usually costs less overall. Enter both numbers above and compare.
For Direct Loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2026 and before July 1, 2027: 6.52% for undergraduate Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans, 8.07% for graduate and professional Unsubsidized loans, and 9.07% for Direct PLUS loans. All are fixed for the life of the loan. The 2025–26 undergraduate rate was 6.39%.
For loans disbursed between October 1, 2020 and October 1, 2027 it is 1.057% on Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans and 4.228% on Direct PLUS loans. It is deducted before the money reaches your school, so borrowing 30,000 disburses 29,682.90 — but you still owe and repay the full 30,000.
On unsubsidized loans, yes, from the day of disbursement, and it capitalizes into your principal when repayment begins. Direct Loans accrue daily, using an interest rate factor of the rate divided by 365.25. Borrowing 7,000 a year for four years at 6.52% adds 5,476.80 by the end of the six-month grace period. On subsidized loans the government pays that interest while you are enrolled.
The government pays the interest on Direct Subsidized loans while you are enrolled at least half-time and during grace; on unsubsidized loans you are responsible for all of it from disbursement. Both carry the same 6.52% undergraduate rate for 2026–27, so the subsidy is worth whatever accrues while you study — 5,476.80 on a typical four-year, 28,000 borrowing pattern.
Only if you take no new loan on or after July 1, 2026. Existing borrowers keep access to Income-Based Repayment, Pay As You Earn and Income-Contingent Repayment, but a single new disbursement moves all of your loans to the RAP or Tiered Standard menu. The 2025 law also eliminates ICR and PAYE entirely in future.
Substantially, because every extra dollar goes to principal once the month's interest is covered. On a 40,000 Tiered Standard balance at 6.52%, an extra 100 a month saves 7,960.69 and finishes four years and nine months early. There is no prepayment penalty on federal student loans. Under RAP the effect is different — the plan already caps your balance — so overpaying mainly matters if you intend to clear the debt rather than seek discharge.