Compare common federal student loan repayment plans: Standard, Graduated, Extended, PAYE-style, and IBR-style. Estimate monthly payment, total paid, and remaining balance at forgiveness.
Federal student loans offer multiple repayment plans with different payment sizes, timelines, and forgiveness outcomes. The standard 10-year plan usually has the highest monthly payment but the lowest lifetime interest cost. Longer or income-driven plans can lower the monthly burden, but they can also extend repayment for many years.
Choosing the right plan depends on your income, balance, and career path. A borrower who can afford the standard plan may pay less overall by eliminating the debt quickly. A borrower pursuing PSLF or managing a high balance relative to income may prefer an income-driven path even if it keeps the loan around longer.
This calculator compares the most common standard amortization paths plus PAYE-style and IBR-style scenarios using your balance, rate, income, and family size. It intentionally leaves SAVE out of the active comparison because StudentAid says court action is still blocking SAVE implementation.
The wrong repayment plan can lock you into unnecessary interest or an unrealistic monthly bill. This worksheet shows the trade-off between lower monthly payments and longer repayment so you can narrow the field before you confirm your live options in Loan Simulator or with your servicer.
Standard: M = amortization over 120 months. Graduated: lower starting payment that rises over the 10-year term. Extended: amortization over 300 months. PAYE-style: min(Standard payment, 10% x discretionary income / 12) with a 20-year horizon. IBR-style: min(Standard payment, 15% x discretionary income / 12) with a 25-year horizon. Discretionary income = AGI - 150% x 2026 HHS poverty guideline.
Result: Standard: ~$555/mo (10 yrs, ~$66.6K total) | PAYE-style: ~$176/mo (20 yrs, ~$84.4K still outstanding) | IBR-style: ~$263/mo (25 yrs, ~$40.8K still outstanding)
With a $50,000 balance at 6% and $45,000 of income, the standard plan remains the fastest and cheapest full-payoff path. The PAYE-style and IBR-style paths reduce the monthly payment by tying it to discretionary income, but they extend the repayment horizon and can leave a large balance outstanding for forgiveness if income stays flat.
The Standard Plan is simple: fixed payments over 10 years. You pay the least total interest but have the highest monthly payment. The Graduated Plan starts lower and increases every two years, still within a 10-year window, which can fit some early-career borrowers. The Extended Plan lowers the monthly payment by stretching amortization to 25 years.
Income-driven plans tie the payment to discretionary income instead of balance alone. That can make the payment more manageable in the short run, but it usually extends the repayment period and can leave a balance outstanding for forgiveness if income stays relatively low.
Choose the standard plan if you can afford it and want to minimize lifetime cost. Choose an income-driven path if the standard payment would strain your budget, if you expect to qualify for PSLF, or if your balance is very high relative to income. Then confirm the live choices in Loan Simulator because StudentAid says the SAVE situation and other IDR details are still evolving.
Last updated:
This worksheet compares the standard amortization plans against two simplified current IDR-style paths. Standard uses 120-month amortization, Graduated uses a lower starting payment that rises over time within the 10-year window, and Extended uses 300-month amortization. The PAYE-style path applies 10% of discretionary income capped at the standard 10-year amount over a 20-year forgiveness horizon, and the IBR-style path applies 15% of discretionary income capped at the standard amount over a 25-year horizon.
Discretionary income is estimated from annual income minus 150% of the 2026 HHS poverty guideline for the 48 contiguous states and D.C. This page intentionally does not model SAVE because StudentAid says federal court action is still blocking SAVE implementation, and it also does not try to model specialized ICR or Parent PLUS consolidation cases.
Federal borrowers may see standard amortization plans such as Standard, Graduated, and Extended, plus income-driven options such as IBR, PAYE, ICR, and the court-affected SAVE framework. This page focuses on the most common comparison cases and leaves specialized ICR and Parent PLUS situations to Loan Simulator or your servicer.
For the income-driven scenarios here, discretionary income is estimated as adjusted gross income minus 150% of the 2026 HHS poverty guideline for the 48 contiguous states and D.C. The PAYE-style and IBR-style monthly payments are built from that figure.
There is no universal best plan. PAYE-style math can produce the lowest payment in this worksheet, while IBR-style math can be more relevant for borrowers who do not qualify for PAYE. StudentAid says SAVE remains tied to court action, so use the page to narrow choices, then confirm live eligibility in Loan Simulator.
After the required repayment period, any remaining balance on an eligible income-driven path can be forgiven. Under PSLF, forgiveness can arrive after 120 qualifying payments while working full-time for an eligible employer. This page shows remaining balance at the forgiveness point, but it does not replace official payment counts or servicer guidance.
Yes, but switching can affect capitalization, payment counting, and plan eligibility. Treat this calculator as a planning aid and confirm the real consequences with your servicer before you switch.
Yes. Graduate borrowers often face different eligibility rules, payment caps, and forgiveness timelines across plans. This page uses broad PAYE-style and IBR-style worksheet assumptions, so borrowers with complex graduate or Parent PLUS histories should verify the exact live rules before switching plans.