Student Loan Payoff Calculator
Calculate your monthly student loan payment and full payoff schedule. See exactly how long it takes to pay off your student loans and how much interest you'll pay.
How It Works
Student loan debt is one of the most common financial challenges people face, but the payoff timeline is entirely knowable — and more controllable than it often feels. This calculator shows your exact monthly payment and generates a complete schedule of every payment, so you can see your balance shrink in concrete terms from the first payment to the last.
The standard federal student loan repayment plan runs 10 years (120 monthly payments). That's the default for most Direct Loans and FFEL loans. But 10 years isn't the only option. Extended repayment plans stretch the term to 20 or 25 years, reducing monthly payments at the cost of significantly more total interest. On a $35,000 loan at 5%, extending from 10 years to 20 years cuts the monthly payment by about $163 — but adds roughly $8,400 in total interest.
Federal student loans have another option that private loans don't: income-driven repayment plans (IDR), which cap monthly payments at a percentage of your discretionary income. Plans like SAVE, IBR, and PAYE are designed for borrowers whose loan payments would otherwise exceed what their income can support. This calculator uses the standard amortization formula and is best suited for modeling the standard, extended, or graduated repayment plans. Income-driven plans have different payment structures that depend on income, family size, and tax filing status.
Making extra payments is one of the most effective student loan strategies. Because extra payments directly reduce your principal balance, they shrink the amount interest is calculated on in all future months. Even an extra $50 per month on a $35,000 loan at 5% can save hundreds of dollars in interest and cut months off your payoff date. The schedule below makes this impact concrete — you can see your balance dropping faster month by month.
If you have multiple student loans, this calculator works for each loan individually. For a complete picture of your student debt payoff, consider running each loan separately, then compare the total interest across different repayment strategies.
Formula Breakdown
Student loan payments use the standard amortization formula: M = P[r(1+r)^n] / [(1+r)^n - 1] Where: - M = Monthly payment - P = Loan principal (current balance) - r = Monthly interest rate (annual rate ÷ 12 ÷ 100) - n = Total number of payments (years × 12) For a $35,000 loan at 5.0% for 10 years (120 months): - r = 5.0% / 12 = 0.4167% per month - n = 10 × 12 = 120 payments - M ≈ $371.01 per month Total payments = $371.01 × 120 = $44,521.20 Total interest = $44,521.20 − $35,000 = $9,521.20 Extending to 20 years: $230.97/month, $20,432.80 total interest Extra interest from extension: $20,432.80 − $9,521.20 = $10,911.60
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