Student Loan Calculator – Standard, Graduated, Extended & Refinance
This Student Loan Calculator helps you estimate monthly payments, total interest, payoff time, and potential savings across different repayment structures. It supports traditional fixed student loans, government-backed educational loans, and private student lending in any country. You can switch between fixed-payment plans, graduated schedules, extended terms, extra payments, and refinancing to see how each strategy affects your long-term repayment timeline.
Three Powerful Modes in One Tool
- Standard Repayment: The classic fixed-payment model where you pay the same amount every month until the loan is fully paid off. This mode also includes interest accumulation during your grace period.
- Graduated Payments: A repayment method where payments start low and increase over time—ideal for borrowers whose income is expected to grow after school.
- Extended / Extra Payment / Refinance: Compare your current loan with extra monthly payments or model a refinance at a lower interest rate to reduce costs and shorten your payoff period.
How the Standard Repayment Calculator Works
Standard repayment begins with a fixed loan balance, fixed interest rate, and fixed term. If your loan has a grace period, interest accumulates during that time and increases the effective balance. After that, the calculator uses the standard amortization formula:
Where:
M = monthly payment
P = principal loan amount
r = periodic interest rate (annual rate ÷ payments per year)
n = number of total payments
This makes the Standard tab ideal for understanding exactly what your fixed monthly payment will be, the true cost of interest, and how much extra the grace period adds to the principal.
How Graduated Student Loan Payments Work
Graduated repayment allows your payments to start small and then increase on a set schedule. Many students begin their careers with lower salaries, making this structure useful during the early years after graduation. The calculator simulates each month of repayment, increasing your payment every step-period by the percentage you select.
As a result, you can see:
- Your initial monthly payment
- Your final monthly payment after all increases
- Total interest paid over the full schedule
- Total amount repaid by the end of the loan
- Your estimated payoff time
Graduated repayment can reduce early financial pressure, but may result in higher interest costs depending on how slowly payments increase.
Extended Repayment, Extra Payments & Refinancing
The third tab lets you compare three scenarios side by side:
- Your current plan: Standard repayment based on your remaining term and rate.
- Extra payment plan: Adds a fixed amount every month to reduce principal faster and shorten payoff time.
- Refinanced loan: Replace your current loan with a new rate and term to cut interest and lower or increase monthly payments.
This makes it simple to evaluate whether refinancing is beneficial, how much interest extra payments save, and how much faster you can pay off your student loan.
How to Use This Student Loan Calculator
- Start by entering your current loan balance and interest rate to calculate your baseline payment.
- Use the Graduated tab if you expect your income to increase steadily over the next few years.
- Test how extra monthly payments shrink your payoff time and reduce total interest.
- Compare your current APR with a refinance APR to see if switching lenders could save money.
- Use the extended plan if you need the lowest monthly payment possible, but note that it increases total interest.
For more financial planning tools, explore the Loan Calculator, Mortgage Calculator, and Annuity Calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
During the grace period, most student loans—especially unsubsidized loans—continue to accrue interest. That interest is added to your balance when repayment begins, increasing the total amount you repay.
They can be. Because early payments are lower, more interest accumulates before the higher payments begin. This usually results in a higher overall interest cost compared to standard repayment. However, they offer financial flexibility early in your career.
Refinancing helps when the new interest rate is significantly lower than your current rate. However, refinancing federal student loans into a private loan removes protections such as income-driven repayment, forbearance, and forgiveness, so consider those tradeoffs carefully.
Yes. Any amount that exceeds your scheduled payment goes directly toward reducing principal. This lowers future interest charges and shortens the repayment timeline. Even small extra payments can produce meaningful long-term savings.
Yes. As long as you know the loan balance, interest rate, repayment term, and payment frequency, this calculator works for international student loans, private loans, government loans, and vocational or professional education loans worldwide.