Student Loan Repayment Calculator: RAP vs IBR vs Standard
Compare the federal repayment plans you can actually use after the 2025 student loan overhaul. See your monthly payment, how long you will pay, what you pay in all, what is forgiven and the tax on that forgiveness, under the new Repayment Assistance Plan, Income-Based Repayment and the Standard plans.
01Your Loans and Income
Enter your federal student loan balance, its interest rate and your income. The calculator works out the main repayment plans open to Direct Loan borrowers, month by month, raising your income each year by the growth rate you choose. Everything stays in your browser.
More settings
| Plan | First monthly payment | Years paying | You pay in all | Forgiven | Tax on forgiveness | Total cost | Total in today's dollars |
|---|
02Your Balance Under Each Plan
What you still owe at the end of each year, counting interest that has built up but not been paid. A line that reaches zero is a loan paid off; a line that stops above zero is the balance forgiven.
03Your Monthly Payment Year by Year
Income-driven payments rise as your income rises; Standard payments stay flat until the loan is paid off.
04Which Plans You Can Use
Federal student loans made on or after July 1, 2026 can be repaid only under the Repayment Assistance Plan or the new Standard plan, whose term depends on how much you owe. Loans made before that date keep their older options: the 10-year Standard plan, Income-Based Repayment and RAP. Pay As You Earn and Income-Contingent Repayment close on July 1, 2028, and the SAVE plan has ended.
05How Each Plan Works
| Plan | Monthly payment | Unpaid interest | Forgiveness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) | A percentage of total AGI, divided by 12, minus $50 per dependent; at least $10 | Not charged; the government also cuts principal by up to $50 a month, never more than your payment | After 360 payments (30 years); taxable |
| Income-Based Repayment (IBR) | 10% of income above 150% of the poverty guideline (15% if you borrowed before July 1, 2014), divided by 12; never more than the 10-year Standard payment; under $5 becomes $0 and $5 to $10 becomes $10 | Builds up but is not added to principal | After 20 years (25 for pre-2014 borrowers); taxable |
| Standard, 10 years | Fixed, paying the loan off in 10 years | Paid each month | None needed |
| Standard, tiered (loans from July 1, 2026) | Fixed, over 10 years if you owe under $25,000, 15 years under $50,000, 20 years under $100,000 and 25 years above that | Paid each month | None needed |
| Public Service Loan Forgiveness | Not a plan: payments under RAP or IBR while working in public service | As under the plan | After 120 qualifying payments; tax-free |
RAP payment by income
| Adjusted gross income | Share of AGI | Monthly payment at the top of the band, before dependents |
|---|---|---|
| $0 to $10,000 | flat | $10 |
| $10,001 to $20,000 | 1% | $17 |
| $20,001 to $30,000 | 2% | $50 |
| $30,001 to $40,000 | 3% | $100 |
| $40,001 to $50,000 | 4% | $167 |
| $50,001 to $60,000 | 5% | $250 |
| $60,001 to $70,000 | 6% | $350 |
| $70,001 to $80,000 | 7% | $467 |
| $80,001 to $90,000 | 8% | $600 |
| $90,001 to $100,000 | 9% | $750 |
| Above $100,000 | 10% | $1,250 at $150,000 |
Because the percentage applies to all of your income, moving into the next band raises the whole payment: at $50,000 of AGI the payment is $167 a month, at $50,001 it is $208. The bands are fixed dollar amounts in the law and are not adjusted for inflation.
06How the Calculator Works and What It Leaves Out
Each plan is run month by month. Income-driven payments are recalculated once a year from your income, which grows at the rate you choose; the poverty guideline used by IBR starts at the 2026 figure and rises at the rate you choose. Under RAP, interest your payment does not cover is not charged and the principal match is applied each month. Under IBR, unpaid interest builds up separately and is forgiven with the balance. The IBR cap uses the 10-year Standard payment on today's balance, and IBR payments under $5 are set to $0 and those from $5 to $10 to $10. IBR family size counts you, your spouse if you file jointly and your dependents unless you set it yourself; IBR also counts other people who live with you, get more than half their support from you and will keep getting it, which can make the number larger. The payments you have already made count toward forgiveness: income-driven payments toward RAP and IBR forgiveness, and PSLF payments, which need qualifying employment as well, toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness. If you tick public service, the calculator ends repayment at whichever forgiveness comes first, and taxes the forgiven balance only when it comes through RAP or IBR. The final row of the schedule covers a part year when forgiveness falls mid-year. Forgiven amounts are taxed at the rate you enter unless they come through Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Today's dollars discount every payment and the tax back to now at the rate you choose.
It assumes Direct Loans. FFEL loans held by banks or guaranty agencies can use IBR but not RAP or PSLF unless they are consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan, and their Standard terms can differ. It also leaves out: the interest the government pays on subsidized loans during the first years of IBR; loans in default; Parent PLUS consolidation rules and Income-Contingent Repayment; PAYE, which closes in 2028; private loans; changes in family size over time; and gaps in payments. Your servicer's figures can differ, especially for the IBR cap, which is based on your balance when you first entered repayment. This is an estimate, not advice; check your plan options at StudentAid.gov.
Rules last checked November 6, 2026. Poverty guidelines: 2026 HHS figures.
07Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP)?
RAP is the income-driven plan created by the 2025 budget law and available from July 1, 2026. The payment is 1% to 10% of your adjusted gross income, depending on which $10,000 band your income falls in, divided by 12, minus $50 a month for each dependent, with a $10 monthly minimum. Interest your payment does not cover is not charged. If a payment cuts your principal by less than $50, the government reduces the principal by the shortfall, but never by more than the payment itself: a $10 payment that goes entirely to interest brings a $10 match. Any balance left after 360 qualifying payments, 30 years, is forgiven.
Can I still use Income-Based Repayment (IBR)?
Yes, if all your federal student loans were made before July 1, 2026. IBR stays open for those loans. The payment is 10% of income above 150% of the poverty guideline if you count as a new borrower, meaning you owed nothing on federal loans when you took out a loan on or after July 1, 2014 (15% otherwise), never more than the 10-year Standard payment, with forgiveness after 20 or 25 years. Loans made on or after July 1, 2026 can only be repaid under RAP or the tiered Standard plan.
What happened to the SAVE plan?
SAVE has ended after the court challenge brought by Missouri and other states. Borrowers who were on it have to choose another plan, and the Education Department moves those who do not choose to a Standard plan. Months spent in the SAVE forbearance generally do not count toward forgiveness.
What about PAYE and ICR?
Pay As You Earn and Income-Contingent Repayment are being closed. Borrowers still on them must move to IBR or RAP by July 1, 2028, so this calculator compares the plans that remain open after that date.
Is student loan forgiveness taxable?
Forgiveness at the end of an income-driven plan such as RAP or IBR counts as federal taxable income from 2026, because the temporary exclusion that covered 2021 to 2025 expired. Public Service Loan Forgiveness stays tax-free. Some states also tax forgiven debt. The calculator adds an estimated tax at the rate you enter.
Is RAP or IBR cheaper?
It depends on income and family. RAP takes a percentage of all your income with no poverty-level allowance, but it never lets interest pile up and adds a principal match of up to $50 a month, so low earners with large balances often do better under RAP. IBR is capped at the 10-year Standard payment and forgives after 20 or 25 years instead of 30, which can favor higher earners and people near forgiveness. Run both with your numbers.
Does Public Service Loan Forgiveness still work?
Yes. After 120 qualifying monthly payments while working full time for a government or qualifying nonprofit employer, the remaining balance is forgiven tax-free. Payments under RAP and IBR count. Tick the public service box and enter the PSLF payments your servicer has already counted to see the plans with forgiveness after 120 payments.
How is a married borrower's payment worked out?
If you file a joint tax return, RAP and IBR use your combined income, and if your spouse also has federal student loans your payment is your share of the couple's payment, in proportion to your balances. If you file separately, only your own income counts, though separate filing can raise your taxes.
08Sources
- 34 CFR 685.209, Income-driven repayment plans (RAP, IBR, PAYE and ICR formulas, married borrowers, interest and forgiveness)
- 20 U.S.C. 1087e (repayment plans for loans made on or after July 1, 2026, including the tiered Standard plan)
- HHS poverty guidelines, Federal Register, January 15, 2026
- Federal Student Aid: repayment plans
- Kiplinger: federal tax on forgiveness from 2026
Corrections and Updates
| Date | What changed |
|---|---|
| November 6, 2026 | Ticking public service no longer delays income-driven forgiveness that would come sooner: the calculator now ends repayment at whichever forgiveness comes first, PSLF or RAP and IBR, and adds the tax estimate only when it is income-driven. Added an answer for borrowers whose loans all date from before July 1, 2014, and corrected the IBR family size description to the support test. |
| November 6, 2026 | Fixed four calculation issues on launch day: PSLF payments are now counted separately from income-driven payments, the final part year is kept in the charts and the CSV when forgiveness comes mid-year, IBR payments under $5 are set to $0 and those from $5 to $10 to $10, and the RAP principal match is described as never larger than the payment. Also added an IBR family size setting and reworded the IBR new-borrower question. |
Every correction to a published figure on this site is logged on Sources and Methods.
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Source data: U.S. Department of Education (34 CFR 685.209 and 20 U.S.C. 1087e) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (poverty guidelines). Updates: Yearly. How we build our data pages.