Put in your adjusted gross income and the dependents you claim, and this RAP calculator shows the monthly payment the Repayment Assistance Plan formula gives you, right next to the 10-year Standard payment and IBR.
RAP calculator
Your first month on RAP: Your $229.17 payment covers the $189.58 of interest and puts $39.59 toward principal. The government adds $10.41 so your balance drops $50.00 that month.
RAP has no cap, so at your income it costs more than the 10-year Standard payment.
Add your balance and rate to compare the 10-year Standard payment and see how the interest waiver and $50 match work on your loan.
IBR is only open on loans made before July 1, 2026, if you have no newer loan. RAP uses dependents you claim on your tax return. IBR uses family size and the 48-state poverty guideline. Alaska and Hawaii are higher, so use the official Repayment Calculator there.
Estimates only. Your servicer or lender sets your actual payment.
How to use it
Your AGI is on your last federal tax return. If you’re married and file jointly, use the combined AGI on that return.
Dependents means the people you claim as dependents on that same return. Each one takes $50 off your monthly payment, but the payment never goes below $10.
Your balance and rate are optional. Add them and you’ll see what the 10-year Standard plan would cost and exactly what your first RAP payment does to your balance. Not sure of your numbers? Log in to StudentAid.gov and every federal loan is listed with its balance and rate.
How the RAP math works
RAP is simpler than the old income-driven plans. There’s no poverty line and no family size. It takes a percentage of your whole AGI, and the percentage depends on which $10,000 band your income lands in.
Then it divides that yearly amount by 12 and subtracts $50 for each dependent. If the result is under $10, you pay $10.
| Your AGI | Share of AGI per year | Monthly payment, no dependents |
|---|---|---|
| $10,000 or less | Flat $120 | $10.00 |
| $10,001 to $20,000 | 1% | $10.00 to $16.67 |
| $20,001 to $30,000 | 2% | $33.34 to $50.00 |
| $30,001 to $40,000 | 3% | $75.00 to $100.00 |
| $40,001 to $50,000 | 4% | $133.34 to $166.67 |
| $50,001 to $60,000 | 5% | $208.34 to $250.00 |
| $60,001 to $70,000 | 6% | $300.01 to $350.00 |
| $70,001 to $80,000 | 7% | $408.34 to $466.67 |
| $80,001 to $90,000 | 8% | $533.34 to $600.00 |
| $90,001 to $100,000 | 9% | $675.01 to $750.00 |
| More than $100,000 | 10% | $833.34 and up |
Notice the jumps. Earn $50,000 and you pay 4% of it. Earn $50,001 and you pay 5% of all of it, which is about $42 a month more.
There’s no cap on the high end. At a big income with a small balance, RAP can cost more each month than the 10-year Standard plan.
From the federal rule
The bands, the $120 floor, the $50 per dependent and the $10 minimum are all in the Education Department’s RAP regulation, 34 CFR 685.209. A dependent is someone you claim on your federal tax return.
What the interest waiver and $50 match do
This is the part of RAP that actually helps your balance. If your full, on-time payment doesn’t cover the month’s interest, the leftover interest is waived. It never gets added to what you owe.
And if your payment cuts your principal by less than $50, the government makes a matching payment so principal drops $50 that month. If your payment is under $50, the match brings the drop up to what you paid.
So as long as you pay on time, your balance goes down every month on RAP. On IBR, interest your payment doesn’t cover can keep building.
What the calculator leaves out
It doesn’t split the payment when your spouse also has federal loans and you file jointly. It uses the poverty guideline for the lower 48 states for IBR, so Alaska and Hawaii borrowers should use the official Repayment Calculator. And it caps IBR at the 10-year Standard payment on your balance today, while the real cap uses your balance when you started IBR.
Three examples
Example: single, $55,000 AGI, $35,000 at 6.5%
- RAP payment
- $229.17/mo
- 10-year Standard
- $397.42/mo
- IBR (10%)
- $258.83/mo
- Balance drop, month one
- $50.00
How we got it: $55,000 sits in the 5% band. $55,000 times 5% is $2,750 a year, and $2,750 divided by 12 is $229.17.
Month one’s interest is about $189.58, so $39.59 of the payment goes to principal. That’s under $50, so the government adds $10.41 and the balance drops a full $50. The 6.5% rate is our assumption.
Example: single parent of one, $48,000 AGI, $42,000 at 5.5%
- RAP payment
- $110.00/mo
- IBR (10%), family of 2
- $129.50/mo
- 10-year Standard
- $455.81/mo
- Interest waived, month one
- $82.50
How we got it: 4% of $48,000 is $1,920 a year, or $160 a month. Minus $50 for one dependent, that’s $110.
About $192.50 of interest builds each month. The $110 payment covers part of it, the other $82.50 is waived, and the government adds $50 toward principal. RAP is $19.50 a month cheaper than IBR here. The 5.5% rate is our assumption.
Example: single, $120,000 AGI, $20,000 at 6%
- RAP payment
- $1,000.00/mo
- 10-year Standard
- $222.04/mo
- IBR, capped
- $222.04/mo
- Paid off on RAP in
- 22 months
How we got it: above $100,000 RAP takes 10%. $120,000 times 10% is $12,000 a year, or $1,000 a month.
That would clear this loan in about 22 months, but you’d be locked into a $1,000 bill. Standard only requires $222.04, and you can always pay extra when you want to. Bottom line: with a high income and a small balance, RAP isn’t the cheap option.
Where to go next
RAP is one of several choices. Our guide to every federal repayment plan compares it with IBR, Standard and Tiered Standard, and who can still use each one. If you were on SAVE, start with what to do now that SAVE is over.
Working for the government or a nonprofit? RAP payments count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness when they’re on time and in full.
Next stepCheck your exact payment with your real loan data in the official Repayment Calculator on StudentAid.gov, then apply for RAP there for free.
Planning to pay the loans off instead? Run your numbers in our student loan payoff calculator, or see all our student loan tools.
RAP calculator FAQ
RAP takes a percentage of your adjusted gross income, from 1% to 10% depending on your income band, divides it by 12 and subtracts $50 for each dependent you claim. If your AGI is $10,000 or less, the base is a flat $120 a year. The payment is never less than $10 a month.
It’s $10 a month. That floor applies even when dependents would push the formula lower, and even with no income.
Often, but not always. At $55,000 of AGI with no dependents, RAP is $229.17 a month and IBR at 10% is $258.83. IBR is capped at the 10-year Standard payment and RAP has no cap, so at high incomes IBR can be lower. IBR is only open on loans made before July 1, 2026, and only if you have no newer loan.
Only if you file taxes jointly. Married filing jointly, RAP uses your combined AGI. Married filing separately, it uses your own AGI and only the dependents on your own return.
After 360 qualifying monthly payments over at least 30 years. Unlike PSLF, forgiveness under an income-driven plan after 2025 is generally taxable as federal income.
Estimates only. Your servicer or lender sets your actual payment. We figure interest monthly (servicers charge it daily), assume on-time payments and use the IBR poverty guideline for the lower 48 states.
Sources (6)
We use primary sources: Federal Student Aid, the U.S. Department of Education, the Federal Register and the Department of Health and Human Services.
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. 34 CFR 685.209, Income-driven repayment plans. ecfr.gov. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- U.S. Department of Education. Reimagining and Improving Student Education final regulations. federalregister.gov. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Federal Student Aid. One Big Beautiful Bill Act definitions. studentaid.gov. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Federal Student Aid. Income-driven repayment plans. studentaid.gov. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. Poverty guidelines. aspe.hhs.gov. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Federal Student Aid. Repayment Calculator. studentaid.gov. Accessed October 22, 2026.