Student Loan Repayment Calculator 2026 - Payoff Plan

Student loan debt remains one of the most significant financial challenges facing Americans, with the average borrower owing around $37,000 upon graduation. The landscape of student loan repayment has evolved considerably, with multiple repayment plans, forgiveness programs, and refinancing options now available. Choosing the right repayment strategy can mean the difference between paying off your loans in a decade or carrying debt for 25 years, potentially saving or costing you tens of thousands of dollars in interest.

The most effective repayment strategy depends on your income, career trajectory, and financial goals. If you can afford higher monthly payments, the standard 10-year plan minimizes total interest and gets you debt-free fastest. If your payments are unmanageable, income-driven repayment plans cap your monthly bill at a percentage of your discretionary income and offer forgiveness after 20-25 years. For those working in public service, nonprofit, or government roles, Public Service Loan Forgiveness can eliminate your remaining balance after just 10 years of qualifying payments.

Avoiding default should be a top priority, as it triggers severe consequences including damaged credit, wage garnishment, seized tax refunds, and loss of eligibility for future federal aid. If you are struggling to make payments, contact your loan servicer immediately to explore deferment, forbearance, or switching to an income-driven plan. Taking proactive steps before you miss a payment gives you far more options and protects your financial future.

Federal Student Loan Repayment Plans

The federal government offers several repayment plans designed to fit different financial situations. Understanding each option is essential to choosing the plan that minimizes your total cost or provides the most manageable monthly payment based on your circumstances.

The Standard Repayment Plan is the default for most federal student loans. It spreads your balance over a fixed 10-year term with equal monthly payments. Because the repayment period is the shortest among all plans, you pay the least total interest. This plan is best for borrowers who can comfortably afford the higher monthly payment and want to eliminate their debt as quickly as possible.

The Graduated Repayment Plan also uses a 10-year term, but payments start low and increase every two years. Initial payments may be as low as half of what the standard plan requires, ramping up over time. This plan is designed for borrowers who expect their income to rise steadily, such as those early in professional careers like medicine, law, or engineering. While you pay more total interest than the standard plan, the lower initial payments can provide critical breathing room in the first years after graduation.

The Extended Repayment Plan stretches your repayment period up to 25 years, available to borrowers with more than $30,000 in outstanding Direct Loans. You can choose either fixed or graduated payments. Monthly payments are significantly lower than the standard plan, but the extended timeline means you may pay substantially more in total interest, sometimes doubling the original loan amount. This plan suits borrowers who need long-term affordability but do not qualify for or prefer not to use income-driven options.

Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) Plans calculate your monthly payment as a percentage of your discretionary income rather than your loan balance, and they offer forgiveness of any remaining balance after 20 or 25 years of qualifying payments. There are four main IDR plans:

• SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education) — The newest IDR plan, SAVE replaced REPAYE and generally offers the lowest payments. Payments are capped at 5% of discretionary income for undergraduate loans and 10% for graduate loans. Unpaid interest does not capitalize, meaning your balance will not grow even if your payments do not cover the full interest charge. Borrowers with income below 225% of the federal poverty level pay $0 per month.
• PAYE (Pay As You Earn) — Payments are capped at 10% of discretionary income and never exceed what you would pay on the standard 10-year plan. Remaining balances are forgiven after 20 years. PAYE is available to newer borrowers who took out their first loan after October 2007 and received a disbursement after October 2011.
• IBR (Income-Based Repayment) — For borrowers who took out loans before July 2014, payments are 15% of discretionary income with forgiveness after 25 years. Newer borrowers pay 10% with forgiveness after 20 years. IBR has broader eligibility than PAYE and is available to anyone with a partial financial hardship.
• ICR (Income-Contingent Repayment) — Payments are the lesser of 20% of discretionary income or the amount you would pay on a fixed 12-year plan, with forgiveness after 25 years. ICR is the only IDR plan available to Parent PLUS Loan borrowers after consolidation. While it typically requires higher payments than the other IDR plans, it provides an important option for parent borrowers who need income-based flexibility.

The Power of Extra Payments

Making extra payments on your student loans, even modest amounts, is one of the most effective strategies to reduce your total borrowing cost and achieve debt-free status years ahead of schedule. The reason is straightforward: every extra dollar you pay goes directly toward reducing your principal balance, which in turn reduces the amount of interest that accrues in every subsequent month. This creates a compounding benefit that grows more powerful over time.

Consider a common scenario: a borrower with $35,000 in student loans at a 6.5% interest rate on the standard 10-year plan. Their monthly payment is approximately $397. If they add just $50 per month to that payment, they cut their repayment timeline by about 1.5 years and save roughly $2,400 in interest. Increasing the extra payment to $100 per month shortens the term by nearly 3 years and saves over $4,500 in interest. At $200 per month extra, the loan is paid off in just over 6 years with savings exceeding $7,800. These savings represent real money that can be redirected toward retirement savings, a home down payment, or other financial goals.

The key to maximizing the benefit of extra payments is to start as early as possible. Interest accrues daily on your outstanding balance, so reducing that balance in the early years of your loan has the greatest impact. Even during periods when you cannot make extra payments consistently, one-time lump sums from tax refunds, bonuses, or gifts can make a meaningful difference. When making extra payments, always confirm with your loan servicer that the additional amount is being applied to principal rather than being held as a prepayment for future monthly installments, as some servicers default to the latter unless instructed otherwise.

Another effective approach is the debt avalanche method: if you have multiple student loans, direct extra payments toward the loan with the highest interest rate first while making minimum payments on the rest. Once the highest-rate loan is paid off, roll that entire payment amount into the next highest-rate loan. This mathematically minimizes total interest paid across all your loans and accelerates your overall payoff timeline.

Student Loan Refinancing: Pros and Cons

Refinancing replaces one or more existing student loans with a new private loan, ideally at a lower interest rate. When executed at the right time and under the right circumstances, refinancing can save borrowers thousands of dollars and simplify repayment. However, it comes with significant trade-offs that every borrower should understand before proceeding.

When refinancing makes sense: Refinancing is most beneficial for borrowers with strong credit scores (typically 700 or above), a stable and sufficient income, and a low debt-to-income ratio. If you originally borrowed at higher interest rates and your financial profile has improved since graduation, you may qualify for rates 2-3 percentage points lower than your current loans. Refinancing is particularly advantageous for private student loans, which do not carry the federal protections that make refinancing federal loans risky. Borrowers with high-interest private loans, multiple loans from different servicers, or those who want to remove a cosigner can all benefit from refinancing into a single loan with better terms.

Risks and downsides: The most significant risk of refinancing is that converting federal student loans into a private loan permanently forfeits all federal borrower protections. This includes access to income-driven repayment plans, eligibility for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, federal forbearance and deferment options, and any future federal relief programs. If you work in public service, are pursuing loan forgiveness, or anticipate periods of financial hardship, refinancing federal loans is generally not advisable. Additionally, choosing a variable interest rate when refinancing can backfire if rates rise, potentially increasing your payments above what you were paying before. Always compare the total cost of the refinanced loan, not just the monthly payment, to ensure you are truly saving money over the life of the loan.

Current refinance rate context: As of 2026, student loan refinance rates vary widely based on creditworthiness, loan term, and whether you choose a fixed or variable rate. Fixed rates generally range from around 4% to 8%, while variable rates may start lower but carry the risk of increasing over time. Shorter repayment terms (5-10 years) typically qualify for lower rates than longer terms (15-20 years). To get the best rate, compare offers from multiple lenders, check whether rate quotes involve a hard or soft credit pull, and consider whether autopay discounts (commonly 0.25%) are included. Remember that the lowest advertised rate is reserved for the most creditworthy applicants and may not reflect the rate you receive.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

Public Service Loan Forgiveness is a federal program that forgives the remaining balance on your Direct Loans after you make 120 qualifying monthly payments (10 years) while working full-time for a qualifying employer. The forgiven amount is completely tax-free, making PSLF one of the most valuable benefits available to public service workers with significant student loan debt. For borrowers with large balances, the savings can reach six figures.

Eligibility requirements: To qualify for PSLF, you must meet three core criteria simultaneously. First, your loans must be federal Direct Loans (or consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan). FFEL and Perkins loans do not qualify on their own but can become eligible through consolidation. Second, you must be employed full-time (at least 30 hours per week) by a qualifying employer, which includes federal, state, local, and tribal government agencies; 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations; and certain other nonprofit entities that provide qualifying public services such as emergency management, public health, law enforcement, public education, and military service. Third, you must be repaying your loans under an income-driven repayment plan (SAVE, PAYE, IBR, or ICR) or the standard 10-year plan, though using the standard plan leaves no remaining balance to forgive.

Qualifying payments: Each of the 120 required payments must be made on time (within 15 days of the due date), for the full amount due, and while you are working full-time for a qualifying employer. The 120 payments do not need to be consecutive. If you switch to a non-qualifying employer temporarily, your previous qualifying payment count is preserved and you can resume accumulating qualifying payments when you return to eligible employment. Periods of deferment, forbearance, or late payments do not count toward the 120-payment requirement but do not reset your progress.

Employment certification: While not strictly required, submitting the Employment Certification Form (ECF) annually and whenever you change employers is strongly recommended. This form, now managed through the PSLF Help Tool on StudentAid.gov, allows your loan servicer to verify your employment eligibility and track your qualifying payment count in real time. Borrowers who certify regularly can catch and correct issues early rather than discovering problems after years of payments. Once certified, you will be transferred to MOHELA, the designated PSLF servicer, if you are not already serviced by them.

Program improvements and changes: PSLF has undergone significant improvements since its inception. The temporary Limited PSLF Waiver in 2021-2022 allowed borrowers to receive credit for previously ineligible payments and loan types, resulting in billions of dollars in forgiveness. Ongoing regulatory changes have streamlined the application process, improved servicer accountability, and expanded the types of payments that count toward forgiveness. The Department of Education has also implemented automatic PSLF credit for qualifying military service members and certain other public employees. Borrowers pursuing PSLF should stay informed about program updates through StudentAid.gov and regularly verify their progress with their loan servicer to ensure they are on track for forgiveness.