Browser-only loan arithmetic · no account
What do your student loans cost on Standard, on RAP, and on the forgiveness path?
Enter the balance, the rate, your adjusted gross income and your dependents. The page computes the 10-year Standard payment, the Repayment Assistance Plan payment from the official AGI table, a month-by-month RAP balance with its interest waiver and principal match, and what 120 Public Service Loan Forgiveness payments cost and leave. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Your loan →Your loan
Six numbers. The AGI growth is your guess, and the page says so.
Balance and rate are on your servicer’s dashboard. AGI is the figure on your federal return; married filing jointly uses the combined AGI. Dependents are the ones claimed on that return. Growth is how fast you expect AGI to rise each year — the RAP payment is recomputed on it annually. Employer type decides whether the forgiveness row is available to you now.
Your assumption.
At other incomes
The RAP payment, and the PSLF path, as AGI moves.
| AGI | Base percentage | RAP a month | Paid across 120 payments | Left at payment 120 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | — | — | — | — |
| $55,000 | — | — | — | — |
| $70,000 | — | — | — | — |
| $85,000 | — | — | — | — |
| $100,000 | — | — | — | — |
| $120,000 | — | — | — | — |
| $150,000 | — | — | — | — |
Base percentage and monthly payment from the AGI table at your dependent count; the PSLF columns run 120 months on your balance, rate and growth from that starting AGI.
The rules, as published
What the servicer’s official pages say, and nothing more.
| AGI | Base payment (RAP) |
|---|---|
| Not more than $10,000 | $120 a year |
| More than $10,000, not more than $20,000 | 1% of AGI |
| $20,000–$30,000 | 2% |
| $30,000–$40,000 | 3% |
| $40,000–$50,000 | 4% |
| $50,000–$60,000 | 5% |
| $60,000–$70,000 | 6% |
| $70,000–$80,000 | 7% |
| $80,000–$90,000 | 8% |
| $90,000–$100,000 | 9% |
| More than $100,000 | 10% |
The servicer’s base-payment table, reproduced. Divide by 12, subtract $50 per dependent, never below $10 a month. Each band is “more than” the lower figure and “not more than” the upper.
Direct Stafford, Direct Grad PLUS and Direct Consolidation loans that did not repay a Parent PLUS loan. If the payment is less than the month’s interest, the unpaid interest is waived. If a full, on-time payment reduces principal by less than $50, the Department adds the difference so principal falls by at least the amount paid, up to $50. Any balance left after 30 years of qualifying payments is forgiven, and may be considered income for tax purposes. The only income-driven plan for loans first disbursed on or after 1 July 2026.
Available when every loan was first disbursed before 1 July 2026; the servicer notes it costs the least interest over time of the plans it lists.
Direct Loans only; FFEL and Perkins loans can qualify after consolidation, with the credit consequences the servicer describes. RAP counts as an accepted plan. Certify employment through the PSLF Help Tool. The forgiven amount is excluded from gross income under IRC §108(f)(1).
How it computes
One amortization, one table, one loop.
Balance × monthly rate ÷ (1 − (1 + monthly rate)−120), with the $50 floor. Ten years, then nothing.
The base percentage is read from the AGI band, applied to AGI, divided by twelve; $50 comes off per dependent; $10 is the floor. At $70,000 and no dependents that is 6% × $70,000 ÷ 12 = $350. A dollar over $70,000 moves the band to 7%, so the payment steps up at each $10,000.
Each month: interest at the annual rate over twelve; the payment is applied; interest the payment did not cover is waived rather than added; principal falls by at least the payment, up to $50, through the match. AGI, and so the payment, is recomputed every twelve months at your growth rate. The loop stops at payoff, at 120 for the PSLF row, or at 360.
The Tiered Standard plan for loans disbursed on or after 1 July 2026; IBR, PAYE and ICR for older loans; a spouse’s loans reducing a joint-return payment; the 1% auto-pay rate reduction through June 2028; and the tax on a 30-year forgiveness. The servicer’s Repayment Calculator uses your actual records and should decide the plan.
Then what
The payment is arithmetic. The employer decision is the rest.
Which employers qualify
Loan forgiveness for California therapists
PSLF, NHSC, the MBH-SLRP and which of the state’s employers each one covers.
California’s own program
MBH-SLRP explained
The state repayment program for behavioral health, on top of the federal path.
The job that banks the hours
The associate job advisor
An offer priced against hours, supervision and pay — and whether the employer is a nonprofit.
The other side of the ledger
W-2 job vs private practice
What a practice has to pay to match a salary — before the forgiveness a nonprofit job may carry.
Where every figure came from
Sources.
The rules
- Federal Student Aid servicer information center — Repayment Assistance Plan: the AGI table, $50 per dependent, the $10 floor, the interest waiver, the $50 principal match, 30-year forgiveness, eligible loans; read 4 September 2026
- The same center — repayment plan comparison: Standard (fixed, $50 minimum, up to 10 years, loans disbursed before 1 July 2026) and the Tiered Standard plan
- The same center — Public Service Loan Forgiveness: 120 qualifying payments, full-time, government or not-for-profit employer, Direct Loans
- StudentAid.gov — the PSLF Help Tool and employer search
- 26 U.S.C. §108(f)(1) — PSLF forgiveness excluded from gross income (Cornell LII)
Every computed figure comes from the balance, rate, AGI, dependents and growth you entered and the published rules above. The survey figures are context only.
