Student Loan Payoff Calculator
Enter your balance, rate and payment to see exactly when your student loans will be gone, and how much an extra payment saves.
Calculate Your Student Loan Payoff
Total amount you still owe across the loans you are paying off.
Use your loan statement rate. 6.39% is the 2025-26 federal undergraduate Direct Loan rate.
Your regular required monthly payment, before any extra amount.
Extra amount paid every month on top of your regular payment.
Payoff dates count forward from the current month. Results assume a fixed rate, monthly interest, and no fees, deferment, or missed payments.
How Student Loan Payoff Is Calculated
Each month, interest is charged on the remaining balance, then your payment is applied first to that interest and then to principal. An extra payment goes almost entirely to principal, which shrinks every future interest charge. That compounding effect is why even a modest extra payment can cut years off a loan.
Monthly interest = remaining balance × monthly interest rate
New balance = old balance + monthly interest − monthly payment
Repeat until the balance reaches zero
Worked Example: $30,000 at 6.39%, $350 a Month Plus $100 Extra
| Standard payment ($350) | With extra ($450) | |
|---|---|---|
| Months to payoff | 115 months (9 years 7 months) | 83 months (6 years 11 months) |
| Total interest paid | $10,173.96 | $7,155.63 |
| Total paid | $40,173.96 | $37,155.63 |
| Interest saved | $3,018.34 | |
| Time saved | 32 months (2 years 8 months) |
That $100 extra saves more than $3,000 in interest on a $30,000 loan and finishes the loan nearly three years sooner. The saving grows with larger balances and higher rates.
Year-by-Year Balance With the Extra Payment
The table below is generated from your inputs and shows the balance left at each year-end when the extra payment is included.
Federal Student Loan Rates and Repayment in 2026
For loans first disbursed July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026, federal Direct Loan rates are fixed for the life of the loan: 6.39% for undergraduate Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans, 7.94% for graduate Unsubsidized Loans, and 8.94% for Direct PLUS Loans. Loans disbursed in 2026-27 carry 6.52%, 8.07% and 9.07% respectively. Because federal rates are fixed, your rate does not change during repayment, but it does differ by the year you borrowed.
The traditional Standard Repayment Plan for older federal loans is 120 fixed monthly payments over 10 years, and it charges the least total interest of the standard federal options because it repays principal fastest. Borrowers with loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2026 fall under the newer Tiered Standard Plan instead, with terms from 10 to 25 years depending on balance. Either way, paying more than the required amount shortens the payoff and cuts interest, as long as the extra is applied to principal.
For scale, Federal Student Aid data put the average federal student loan balance at about $39,375 per borrower in the third quarter of 2025, across roughly 42.3 million borrowers holding about $1.67 trillion. The calculator defaults use a round $30,000 balance, close to the average cumulative debt of the class of 2023, so you can replace it with your own balance for a personal result.
Five Ways to Pay Off Student Loans Faster
- Pay extra every month, automatically. Even $50 to $100 extra, set as an automatic payment, beats occasional lump sums because it compounds every month.
- Direct extra payments to principal. Ask your servicer to apply extra money to principal, not to advance your next due date, so it actually shortens the loan.
- Attack the highest-rate loan first. If you hold several loans, the avalanche method (highest rate first) saves the most interest, while the snowball method (smallest balance first) gives quicker wins.
- Put windfalls to work. Tax refunds, bonuses and side income applied in full to principal can shave months off at once.
- Refinance only with care. Private refinancing can lower a high rate, but refinancing federal loans into a private loan forfeits federal protections, income-driven plans and forgiveness options.
