Student Loan Payoff Calculator
See how extra student loan payments accelerate payoff and reduce total interest. Enter your current loan balance, interest rate, repayment plan (Standard, Extended, or custom years), and any extra monthly payment you plan to make. The calculator displays your standard payoff timeline alongside your accelerated payoff scenario, showing total months saved and total interest saved by paying extra. Even $50 or $100 extra per month significantly cuts your payoff time and total interest cost, because extra payments reduce principal faster, which means less interest accrues in subsequent months. The savings compound over years. This calculator uses standard fixed-payment amortisation and includes an amortisation schedule showing the first six months plus the final month of your loan. Federal student loan interest rates for the 2026-27 academic year are: Undergraduate Direct loans 6.52%, Graduate Unsubsidized 8.07%, Direct PLUS loans 9.07%. However, always verify your actual rate by logging into StudentAid.gov or your servicer portal, as rates change annually on July 1. The calculator also notes that if you are pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness, extra payments may not provide additional benefit if the remaining balance will be forgiven.
Enter your loan balance, interest rate, and any extra monthly payment. The calculator shows two plans side by side: your standard payoff and accelerated payoff with extra payments, including the interest you save and how many months earlier you become debt-free.
Standard plan
With extra payment
Amortization schedule (standard plan)
The table below shows the first 6 months plus the final month of your standard repayment schedule. Early payments are mostly interest; as the balance falls, more of each payment reduces principal.
| Month | Payment | Principal | Interest | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enter loan details above to see schedule. | ||||
How student loan payoff is calculated
This calculator uses the standard PMT (payment) formula used by the Department of Education and described by the CFPB. For each repayment plan, it calculates the fixed monthly payment that amortizes the loan to zero within the chosen term. The extra-payment simulation then runs month by month: each month the balance is reduced by the payment plus extra minus the interest accrued, until it reaches zero.
r = annual rate / 100 / 12
n = term years x 12
monthly payment = balance x r x (1 + r)^n / ((1 + r)^n - 1)
each month: interest = balance x r; principal paid = payment - interest; new balance = balance - principal paid
Income-driven repayment plans
This calculator covers standard amortization repayment. Income-driven repayment (IDR) plans compute payments as a percentage of your discretionary income and family size, which requires personal income information this calculator does not collect. Use the official Loan Simulator at StudentAid.gov for IDR plan estimates. Current IDR plans include SAVE, PAYE, IBR, and ICR.
If you are pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), extra payments toward your loan balance may not be in your interest, since the remaining balance is forgiven after 120 qualifying payments regardless of the amount. Focus on making the required minimum payments on an IDR plan instead.
Before you send that extra payment
The single most common mistake with student loan prepayment is not the math, it is the plumbing. When you send more than the amount due, most federal servicers apply the surplus to future installments (advancing your due date) rather than to principal, which saves you nothing in interest. To get the result this calculator shows, you must tell the servicer in writing to apply the extra to your current principal balance, and it is worth checking your account afterward to confirm it landed there. A standing instruction is safer than remembering every month.
Rate entry trips people up too. The 6.52% default applies only to undergraduate Direct loans first disbursed in the 2026-27 year; every federal loan keeps the fixed rate it was issued with, so a loan from 2020-21 may still sit at 2.75%. Consolidating does not hand you today's rate, it sets a weighted average of your existing loans rounded up to the nearest one-eighth of a percent. Enter your loan's actual rate, not the headline number.
Finally, prepayment and forgiveness pull in opposite directions. If you are on an income-driven plan chasing Public Service Loan Forgiveness or long-term forgiveness, every extra dollar toward principal is a dollar the government would otherwise have written off. With the SAVE plan wound down and the new Repayment Assistance Plan live from July 1, 2026, confirm which plan you are on before you accelerate.
Frequently asked questions: student loan payoff
What is the current federal student loan interest rate?
Federal student loan interest rates are set by Congress annually, effective July 1 each year, based on the 10-year Treasury note yield plus a fixed add-on. For the 2026-27 academic year: Undergraduate Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans are 6.52%; Graduate Direct Unsubsidized loans are 8.07%; Direct PLUS loans (graduate/professional and parent) are 9.07%. Source: Federal Student Aid (StudentAid.gov, Interest Rates and Fees; fsapartners.ed.gov). Private student loan rates are set by individual lenders and vary by borrower creditworthiness.
What is the standard repayment plan for federal student loans?
The standard repayment plan spreads your loan balance over 10 years (120 equal monthly payments). It results in the highest monthly payment of any federal plan but the lowest total interest paid. Most Direct Loan borrowers are automatically enrolled in the standard plan unless they choose otherwise. The minimum payment is $50 per month.
What is income-driven repayment (IDR)?
Income-driven repayment (IDR) plans set your monthly payment at a percentage of your discretionary income rather than based on your loan balance. The current IDR plans include SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education), PAYE (Pay As You Earn), IBR (Income-Based Repayment), and ICR (Income Contingent Repayment). Under each plan, any remaining balance after 20-25 years of payments may be forgiven. Use the Loan Simulator at studentaid.gov to estimate IDR payments, as they require income information this calculator does not collect.
Should I pay extra on my student loans?
Paying extra reduces the total interest you pay and moves your payoff date earlier. Whether it is the best use of extra money depends on your interest rate versus other options. At rates above 6-7%, extra loan payments often beat keeping the money in a savings account. However, if you have high-interest credit card debt, paying that down first usually saves more money. If you are pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), paying extra may not benefit you if the remaining balance will be forgiven anyway. Always specify that extra payments go to principal, not toward future payments.
What student loan forgiveness programs exist?
The two main forgiveness programs for federal student loans are: (1) Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), which forgives the remaining balance after 120 qualifying payments while working full-time for a qualifying government or non-profit employer; (2) IDR forgiveness, which forgives any remaining balance after 20-25 years of payments on an income-driven repayment plan. Teacher Loan Forgiveness and Perkins Loan Cancellation also exist for specific employment situations. Forgiveness programs apply to federal loans only. Source: StudentAid.gov.
Can I refinance federal student loans into a private loan?
Yes, but with significant trade-offs. Refinancing federal loans into a private loan permanently removes access to federal protections: income-driven repayment plans, federal forbearance and deferment options, PSLF eligibility, and IDR forgiveness. If you work in the public sector, are pursuing PSLF, or have uncertain income, refinancing federal loans is generally not recommended. Refinancing may make sense for borrowers with stable high income and no intention of pursuing forgiveness, if a lower private rate would reduce total interest paid.
Official sources
- Federal student loan interest rates: StudentAid.gov, Interest Rates and Fees.
- Repayment plan descriptions: StudentAid.gov, Repayment Plans.
- IDR Loan Simulator: StudentAid.gov, Loan Simulator.
- CFPB student loan repayment guide: CFPB, Repay Student Debt.
- PSLF program: StudentAid.gov, Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 12 June 2026. See our methodology. General information only, not financial advice.