Repayment after the 2025 law · calculator
Student loan payoff calculator
Adding $100 a month to the $341 payment on a $30,000 loan at 6.52% clears it in 7 years 2 months instead of ten years and saves $3,359 of interest; $250 extra brings it to 5 years and saves $5,717. Federal student loans can be prepaid at any time without penalty, and every extra dollar that reaches principal stops interest from running on it for the rest of the term. The saving is larger on graduate loans, which carry 8.07% for 2026-27, and on the long Tiered Standard terms of 15 to 25 years introduced on July 1, 2026. Prepaying is not always wise, though. A borrower heading for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, or one whose balance will be forgiven on an income-driven plan, may simply hand money back that would have been canceled. On the Repayment Assistance Plan, paying ahead can also cost the monthly matching payment unless you keep your due date. The calculator shows the effect on any fixed-rate loan.
Time saved with the extra payment
3 yr 9 mo
Debt-free in 6 yr 3 mo instead of 10 yr
| Interest at the current payment | $10,911 |
| Interest with the extra | $6,557 |
| Interest saved | $4,355 |
| Monthly interest today | $163 |
Fixed rate, payments every month, extra applied to principal. On RAP or IBR an extra payment can change the waiver or the forgiveness: check those pages first. How this is calculated.
Time and interest saved by paying more than the required amount, and the cases where prepaying is a mistake.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Extra payments on a graduate balance
Long terms make prepayment more powerful. $85,000 of graduate loans at 8.07% falls in the 20-year tier of the Tiered Standard plan, with a payment of $715. Paying $300 more each month ends the loan in 10 years 4 months instead of 20 years and saves $46,077 of interest. The table compares a few extra amounts on that balance.
| Extra each month | Time to payoff | Total interest | Interest saved |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 | 20 years | $86,524 | $0 |
| $100 | 15 years 1 month | $62,015 | $24,509 |
| $300 | 10 years 4 months | $40,446 | $46,077 |
| $600 | 7 years 2 months | $26,918 | $59,605 |
| $1,000 | 5 years 1 month | $18,745 | $67,779 |
A lower rate does part of the work
The Department offers a rate cut to borrowers who pay by automatic debit: 0.25% normally, and 1% in total for those enrolled by December 31, 2026, kept until June 30, 2028 (Department of Education, September 29, 2026). On the $30,000 loan, going from 6.52% to 5.52% for the period of the offer lowers the interest you pay without any extra cash. Combined with an extra payment, it shortens the loan further. Details on the auto pay rate reduction page.
Lump sums: refunds, bonuses and gifts
A one-time payment works like a run of extra monthly payments made all at once, and it starts saving interest immediately. A $3,000 tax refund applied to the $30,000 loan in its first year removes roughly $196 of interest in the following twelve months alone, and keeps saving every year after that because the principal never comes back. The order matters when you hold several loans: send the money to the one with the highest rate, which for most borrowers with recent loans means a graduate unsubsidized loan at 8.07% or a PLUS loan at 9.07%, before the undergraduate loans at 6.52%. The calculator handles one balance at a time, so run it on each loan separately if their rates differ.
When paying faster costs you
Three situations argue against prepaying. First, PSLF: the balance left after 120 payments is canceled, so prepaying reduces the gift, not your cost. Second, a long income-driven horizon with a large balance: if the plan comparator shows a forgiven amount on RAP or IBR, extra payments shrink it. Third, a cash cushion you would need to rebuild with a credit card at a higher rate. In other cases, prepaying a 8.07% loan is one of the few risk-free returns available.
RAP borrowers: keep the due date
On the Repayment Assistance Plan, the waiver of unpaid interest and the matching payment of up to $50 depend on an on-time payment for each month with a due date. A borrower earning $60,000 with no dependent pays $250 and may want to add more. The rule in 34 CFR 685.209(o)(3) lets you choose, for each payment, whether the excess advances the due date; choosing not to advance keeps the monthly benefits.