💰 Finance
Student Loan Calculator
Use this free student loan calculator to get fast, accurate results.
📝 Your Assumptions
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This student loan calculator shows exactly what your education debt costs each month and over the full repayment term. Enter your loan amount, interest rate, and term to see your monthly payment, total interest, and total paid. It's for anyone with federal or private student loans who wants a clear payoff picture before committing.
How to Use This Calculator
Follow these five steps to get an accurate repayment estimate in under a minute.
1
Enter Your Total Loan Amount
Type the full balance you owe, including all disbursed federal and private loans. For example, if you borrowed $10,000 per year for four years, enter $40,000. If you've already made payments, use your current outstanding principal, not the original amount.
2
Input Your Interest Rate
Enter the annual percentage rate (APR) as a number, like 5.5 for 5.5%. Federal undergraduate Direct Loans for 2024-25 carry a 6.53% rate, while graduate PLUS loans are 9.08%. If you have multiple loans, use the weighted average rate.
3
Choose Your Loan Term
Select the number of years you'll take to repay. The standard federal repayment plan is 10 years, but extended plans stretch to 25 years and can lower your monthly bill. A longer term reduces the monthly payment but increases total interest significantly.
4
Review Your Monthly Payment
The calculator instantly displays your fixed monthly payment based on standard amortization. A $30,000 loan at 5.5% over 10 years gives a $325.58 monthly payment. Compare that figure to your expected starting salary to check affordability.
5
Check Total Interest and Total Paid
Look at the total interest line to see the true cost of borrowing. That same $30,000 loan at 5.5% for 10 years costs $9,069.60 in interest, for a total paid of $39,069.60. Stretching to 20 years raises total interest to $19,609.20.
What Your Results Mean
Each output tells you something different about the cost and structure of your student debt.
Monthly Payment
This is the fixed amount due every month under a standard amortization schedule. It includes both principal and interest, with more interest paid early on. A $50,000 loan at 6% over 10 years requires $555.10 per month.
Total Interest
This is the sum of all interest charges over the life of the loan — the real cost of borrowing. A $50,000 loan at 6% for 10 years accrues $16,612 in interest. Raise the rate to 8% and total interest jumps to $22,798.
Total Paid
This combines principal and interest into the full amount you'll hand over. For a $50,000 loan at 6% over 10 years, total paid is $66,612. That's $16,612 more than what you originally borrowed.
Interest Rate Impact
Even a 1% rate difference changes your cost dramatically. On a $40,000 loan over 10 years, 5% interest costs $10,911 total, while 6% costs $13,290. That 1% gap adds $2,379 to your bill.
Loan Term Trade-Off
Longer terms lower monthly payments but raise total interest. A $40,000 loan at 6% costs $444.08 monthly over 10 years but only $286.48 over 20 years. However, total interest climbs from $13,290 to $28,755.
Amortization Schedule
Early payments go mostly toward interest, not principal. On a $40,000 loan at 6%, the first payment of $444.08 sends $200 to interest and $244.08 to principal. By year nine, most of the payment reduces principal.
Key Terms
Amortization
The process of paying off a loan through scheduled, equal payments over time. Each payment covers interest first, then the remaining amount reduces principal.
Principal
The original amount you borrowed, separate from interest. If you borrow $30,000, your principal is $30,000 until you start paying it down.
APR
Annual Percentage Rate — the yearly cost of borrowing, including interest and certain fees. It's often slightly higher than the stated interest rate.
Weighted Average Rate
The blended interest rate across multiple loans, weighted by each loan's balance. If you owe $20,000 at 5% and $10,000 at 7%, your weighted average is 5.67%.
Repayment Term
The length of time you have to repay the loan in full. Standard federal terms are 10 years, but extended and income-driven plans can run 20 to 25 years.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Your monthly payment is calculated using the standard amortization formula: M = P × [r(1+r)^n] / [(1+r)^n – 1], where P is principal, r is the monthly interest rate (annual rate divided by 12), and n is the total number of monthly payments. For a $30,000 loan at 5.5% over 10 years, r equals 0.004583 and n equals 120. Plugging those in gives a monthly payment of $325.58. That payment stays fixed for the entire term. Early on, more of it goes to interest — about $137.50 in month one — and less to principal. By the final year, almost the entire payment reduces principal. If you want to see how extra payments shorten your term, run the numbers through our loan calculator to compare scenarios side by side.
Federal student loan rates are fixed by Congress each year and don't depend on your credit. For the 2024-25 academic year, undergraduate Direct Loans carry a 6.53% rate, graduate loans are 7.05%, and PLUS loans are 9.08%. Private lenders set rates based on your credit score and can range from about 4% to 15%. A $40,000 private loan at 12% over 10 years costs $573.94 per month and $28,873 in total interest. The same balance at the federal undergraduate rate of 6.53% costs $454.90 monthly and $14,588 in interest. That's a $14,285 difference in total cost. If you're comparing refinancing options, our loan calculator can help you model the new payment before you commit.
A shorter term saves money on interest but raises your monthly obligation. On a $50,000 loan at 6%, a 10-year term costs $555.10 per month and $16,612 in total interest. Stretch it to 20 years and the monthly payment drops to $358.22, but total interest balloons to $35,973. You'd pay $19,361 more in interest for the sake of a $196.88 lower monthly bill. Choose the shorter term if your income comfortably covers the payment and you want to be debt-free faster. Choose the longer term if you need breathing room now and plan to make extra payments later. Even $100 extra per month on the 20-year loan can cut years off the payoff. Use our auto-loan calculator to compare how term length affects other types of debt.
Refinancing replaces your existing loans with a new one at a lower rate, ideally saving thousands. Suppose you owe $60,000 at an average 7.5% over 10 years. Your current payment is $712.13 per month with $25,455 in total interest. If you refinance to 4.5% over the same 10 years, the payment drops to $621.88 and total interest falls to $14,625. That's $10,830 saved and $90.25 back in your pocket each month. The catch: refinancing federal loans into a private loan eliminates benefits like income-driven repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Only refinance federal loans if you're confident you won't need those protections. Run both scenarios through our mortgage calculator to see how the same rate logic applies to larger loans.
Extra payments go directly toward principal, which reduces the interest you accrue going forward and shortens your term. Take a $35,000 loan at 6% over 10 years — the standard payment is $388.57 per month and total interest is $11,628. Add just $50 extra per month and you'll pay off the loan about 14 months early, saving roughly $1,500 in interest. Add $150 extra and you'll finish nearly three years early, saving over $3,300. The earlier in the loan term you start making extra payments, the bigger the impact, because you're cutting interest that would have compounded for years. Always confirm your servicer applies extra payments to principal, not to next month's bill. Our loan calculator lets you test different extra-payment amounts before you commit.
You can either calculate each loan separately and add the payments, or use a weighted average rate with the combined balance. Say you have three loans: $20,000 at 5%, $15,000 at 6.5%, and $10,000 at 7.5%, all on 10-year terms. Individually, the payments are $212.13, $170.34, and $118.70 — a total of $501.17 per month. Using the weighted average rate of 5.95% on the $45,000 combined balance gives a nearly identical $498.89 payment. The small difference comes from rounding. The weighted average method is faster and accurate enough for planning. If you're considering consolidating these into one loan, compare the new rate and term against your current mix. Our loan calculator can model the consolidated payment so you see whether the simplicity is worth the cost.
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