Estimate a standard student loan payment from balance, rate, term, and extra monthly payment, then compare payoff time and interest saved.
$30,000 at 6.5% for 10 years
Federal loan options can include income-driven repayment, deferment, forbearance, forgiveness, servicer rules, payment allocation, and rate details not modeled here. Use Federal Student Aid Loan Simulator or your servicer for official plan choices.
Estimate a standard student loan payment from balance, rate, and term.
See how an extra payment may reduce payoff time.
Estimate interest cost before choosing a repayment strategy.
Compare simplified repayment scenarios before using Federal Student Aid Loan Simulator or asking a servicer.
$340.64 scheduled payment, 100-month payoff with extra, about $1,985.10 interest saved
$271.32/month and about $7,557.88 interest
78-month payoff and about $6,614.52 interest saved
Need a slower walkthrough, a related calculator, or the full library? These links keep you close to the task you started.
Plain-language answers about when to use the estimate, what your numbers mean, what is left out, and how privacy works.
Use it when you want to test the exact inputs on this page: Estimate a standard student loan payment from balance, rate, and term. See how an extra payment may reduce payoff time. The result is a check against your assumptions, not proof that a lender, tax app, broker, platform, or provider will use the same number.
Loan balance means the current principal you still owe, not the original amount if you have already paid some down. Interest rate means the annual rate for this loan, entered as 6.5 for 6.5%, not as 0.065. Repayment term means the standard fixed-payment term in years, such as 10 years for a basic standard-plan comparison. Extra monthly payment means extra money you plan to send each month on top of the scheduled payment.
No. This page only does fixed-payment loan math from the numbers you enter. Federal Student Aid Loan Simulator can compare official federal repayment options, IDR plans, forgiveness paths, deferment, forbearance, and other rules this calculator does not model.
With $30,000 at 6.5% for 10 years, the scheduled payment is about $340.64. Adding $50 makes the monthly amount about $390.64, estimates a 100-month payoff, and saves about $1,985.10 in interest compared with the standard 120-month path.
Use the rate from StudentAid.gov or your servicer. Federal student loan rates depend on loan type and first disbursement date. The 6.5% starter example is only a clean test number, not a current-rate promise.
You can use it for simple fixed-rate payment math, but private loans can have lender rules, fees, variable rates, refinance terms, and payment allocation rules this page does not know. Check the lender agreement before acting.
In plain language: The calculator uses the fixed-payment loan formula for the scheduled monthly payment, then simulates monthly interest and principal reduction again with any extra payment added. For the starter example, $30,000 at 6.5% over 10 years gives a scheduled payment near $340.64. Adding $50 makes the simulated monthly payment about $390.64.
Start with the scheduled payment, then check payoff time, total interest, and interest saved. A smaller payment can feel easier, but total interest shows what the loan really costs over time.
This is not an official federal repayment plan result, servicer quote, or private-lender payoff statement. It does not include income-driven repayment, deferment, forbearance, forgiveness, subsidies, capitalization, fees, payment allocation, auto-pay discounts, or servicer rules. Use Federal Student Aid for official federal repayment-plan choices. Use your servicer or lender for payoff quotes, IDR, deferment, forbearance, forgiveness, capitalization, payment allocation, and private-loan rules.
Check the loan balance, annual rate, term, and whether extra payments are applied to principal. For federal loans, compare the result with Federal Student Aid Loan Simulator or your servicer before changing plans.
No. The calculator runs in your browser tab. Recent answers stay only on the page while you use it, and they are not sent to a server.