Student Loan Calculator - NerdWallet

Use this calculator to estimate your monthly payments on a single federal student loan or private student loan, calculate the total payment on multiple student loans at different interest rates, or calculate the total interest you’ll pay. You can also include whether any federal student loans are subsidized or unsubsidized.

Student loan payment calculator

How to use this calculator

You’ll get the most accurate results if you enter your loan amounts separately with their precise interest rates, but you can also estimate or use the sample loan amounts and interest rate provided.

You may have a mix of federal and private loans. If you don’t know how much you owe, search for your federal loans in the National Student Loan Data System or contact your private student loan lender.

This calculator assumes you’ll be paying monthly for 10 years once repayment begins, which is the standard term for federal loans and many private loans.

Enter the total amount you borrowed for each loan. You can enter up to three loans for each year you’re in school, up to four years. It’s possible to include 12 loans total.

Click “Add another loan” to include additional loans in each year or select the next year. Select “I’m done” once you are finished adding all of your loans, then “Calculate” to get your results.

Enter the interest rate for each loan amount. Your interest rates will vary depending on whether your loans are federal or private, the year you borrowed and, in some cases, your credit score. Check with your federal loan servicer or your private lender to find out your interest rate.

Interest will accrue daily on unsubsidized federal and private loans while you’re in college. The total amount accrued will capitalize and be added to your total loan amount when repayment begins. During repayment, interest will continue to accrue and will be included as part of your monthly bill amount.

Is this a subsidized federal loan?

Select “Yes” if you have a subsidized federal loan or “No” if you have an unsubsidized federal loan or a private loan.

• Subsidized federal loans accrue interest while you’re in school and during your six-month grace period after leaving school, but the government pays the interest so it won’t affect the total amount you owe at repayment. To qualify for subsidized federal loans you must meet financial need requirements.

• Unsubsidized federal loans and deferred private loans will accrue interest while you’re in school and during the six-month grace period. The amount that accrues will be added to the total amount you owe when repayment begins.

Understanding your results

This is the minimum amount you must pay each month during repayment to stay current.

This is the sum of all the loan amounts you entered.

Accrued interest while in school

This is the total interest that accrued daily on each of the loan amounts you entered during school and the six-month grace period.

The total to repay is the amount you borrowed plus the accrued interest while you were in school that capitalizes. This is how much your total debt will be when you begin repayment, typically six months after leaving school.

This total doesn’t reflect the full amount you will pay over time. During repayment, interest will continue to accrue daily and you’ll pay for it as part of your monthly bill.

Use your results to save money

Pay your interest during school

If you have unsubsidized or private student loans, you can lower your total to repay by making monthly interest payments while you’re going to school. Or, you may opt to make a lump sum payment of the total interest that accrues before repayment begins. Either method will prevent the interest that accrues from being capitalized. The result: a lower monthly bill amount.

Pay more than the minimum

You can submit more than your monthly minimum to pay off your loan faster. The quicker you finish paying your loans, the more you’ll save in interest. Learn how to pay off your student loans fast.

Lower your monthly payments

If you’re having trouble making payments on your federal loans, you can extend the term to 20 or 25 years with an income-driven repayment plan. Income-driven plans lower your monthly loan payments, but increase the total interest you’ll pay throughout the life of your loan.

Private lenders may allow you to lower monthly payment temporarily. To permanently lower monthly payments you’ll need to refinance student loans. By doing so, you replace your current loan or loans with a new, private loan at a lower interest rate. To qualify you’ll need a credit score in the high 600s and steady income, or a co-signer who does.

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