Federal student loan payments on the standard, graduated and extended plans, plus extra
Estimates only, not financial advice. What you type stays on your device. Checked against sources on 6 Oct 2026.A $35,000 federal Direct Loan at the 2026-27 undergraduate rate of 6.52% costs $397.78 a month on the standard 10-year plan, with $12,732.62 of interest. The extended 25-year plan lowers the payment to $236.77 but costs $36,023.71 of interest. Adding $100 a month clears it in 89 months.
2026-27 · Rates and rules read from the sources listed on this page (the earliest on 6 Oct 2026); they may have changed since.
Enter the total you owe in federal Direct Loans and the interest rate, or tap a 2026-27 rate.
Say whether you received any Direct Loan on or after 1 July 2026; that decides which plans you can use.
Pick a plan to see its monthly payment, months to pay and total interest.
Compare the plans in the table: standard, graduated, extended and tiered standard.
Enter an extra monthly payment to see the months and interest it saves.
This calculator works out the monthly payment, the months to pay and the total interest on US federal Direct Loans under each fixed repayment plan, and what an extra monthly payment saves. It is for federal loans only; private loans set their own terms.
The 2026-27 rates. Loans first disbursed from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 carry fixed rates of 6.52% for undergraduates, 8.07% for graduate and professional unsubsidized loans, and 9.07% for PLUS loans (U.S. Department of Education, GENERAL-26-33, 4 June 2026). Each loan keeps the rate of the year it was first paid out, so an older loan is entered at its own rate.
The plans. Under 34 CFR 685.208, a borrower with no Direct Loan made on or after 1 July 2026 can choose the standard plan (fixed payments over 10 years, at least $50 a month), the graduated plan (payments rising in steps within 10 years, none more than three times another) or, with more than $30,000 of Direct Loans, the extended plan over up to 25 years. Anyone with a loan made on or after 1 July 2026 has one fixed plan, the tiered standard plan: 10 years under $25,000, 15 under $50,000, 20 under $100,000 and 25 above.
Graduated steps. The rules fix the term and the three-times limit but not the steps; servicers set them. Here the payment rises every two years by the percent you enter, 15% as an example, and starts at the lowest amount that still finishes in 120 months.
What it does not do. Income-driven plans, including IBR and the Repayment Assistance Plan, depend on income and family size and are not modelled here; use the Loan Simulator at studentaid.gov. Interest is figured monthly rather than daily, deferment, forbearance and forgiveness are left out, and the figures are an estimate, not your servicer's bill. For an Indian education loan with a moratorium, use the Education Loan EMI Calculator.
Direct Loans first disbursed between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027 carry fixed rates of 6.52% for undergraduates, 8.07% for graduate and professional unsubsidized loans, and 9.07% for PLUS loans. The Department of Education announced them on 4 June 2026 from the 10-year Treasury auction of 12 May 2026.
At the 2026-27 undergraduate rate of 6.52%, a $35,000 federal loan costs $397.78 a month on the standard 10-year plan, or $47,732.62 in total. The extended 25-year plan cuts the payment to $236.77, but the total interest almost triples to $36,023.71 because the balance is outstanding much longer.
Borrowers who receive a Direct Loan on or after 1 July 2026 repay on a fixed plan whose length depends on the total borrowed: 10 years below $25,000, 15 years below $50,000, 20 years below $100,000 and 25 years from $100,000. Graduated and extended plans are closed to them, under 34 CFR 685.208(c).
Payments start lower and rise in steps, finishing within 10 years, and no payment may be more than three times any other. Servicers set the actual steps. With payments rising 15% every two years, a $35,000 loan at 6.52% starts at $305.86 and ends at $534.95, costing $1,760.06 more interest than the standard plan.
Yes. Federal loans have no prepayment penalty, and an extra payment reduces the balance that interest is charged on. Adding $100 a month to the $397.78 standard payment on $35,000 at 6.52% clears the loan in 89 months instead of 120 and saves $3,516.68 of interest. Ask the servicer to apply extra payments to principal.
No. Income-driven plans such as IBR and the Repayment Assistance Plan set the payment from income, family size and poverty guidelines, and some forgive a balance after many years. Those inputs change yearly, so the page links to the official Loan Simulator at studentaid.gov, which uses your actual loan records.
Rates and rules change; check the source before you rely on a figure.
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