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Student Loan SAVE Transition & Payment Shock Calculator (2026)
Calculate your monthly payment shock, new 10% IDR / RAP payments, and PSLF eligibility following the March 2026 SAVE termination.
Try it nowRAP vs Legacy IBR Loan Payments (2026)
RAP and legacy IBR can both earn PSLF credit. Compare their payments on the same public-service clock, or their separate IDR timelines, using a stated loan rate and verified eligibility.
Interactive Comparison Simulator
Adjust the variables below to simulate outcomes, compare rates, and see real-time projections.
Side-by-Side Comparison
A direct comparison of features, rules, limits, and eligibility requirements.
| Feature / Detail | Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) | Legacy Income-Based Repayment (IBR) |
|---|---|---|
Monthly amount | 2026 RAP uses 1% to 10% of full AGI by income band, less $50 for each dependent claimed on the federal return, with a $10 floor. | Legacy IBR uses 10% or 15% of AGI above 150% of the poverty guideline, capped at the ten-year Standard amount. |
Can the payment be zero? | No. RAP has a $10 monthly minimum even if the calculated amount is lower. | Yes. An IBR payment can be $0 when discretionary income is zero. |
PSLF eligibility | On-time RAP payments count toward the 120 qualifying payments when the job, loan and other requirements are met. | Qualifying IBR payments can also count toward the same 120-payment PSLF target. |
IDR forgiveness without PSLF | Any remaining eligible RAP balance after 360 qualifying monthly payments may be discharged under current law. | IBR normally uses 20 years for the 10% cohort and 25 years for the 15% cohort. |
Interest and principal | A full on-time RAP payment triggers waiver of unpaid monthly interest and a principal reduction that can bring that month's decline up to the lesser of $50 or the payment. | IBR may subsidize interest on eligible subsidized loans for a limited period; unpaid interest on other loans can remain outstanding. |
Loan eligibility after 1 July 2026 | RAP is the income-driven option for eligible newly disbursed Direct loans; Parent PLUS and their consolidation descendants are excluded. | Legacy IBR eligibility depends on each loan's disbursement and consolidation history. Confirm access in your Federal Student Aid account. |
Forgiveness tax | PSLF discharge is federally tax-free; an eventual 30-year IDR discharge may be federally taxable under current law. | PSLF discharge is federally tax-free; an eventual 20- or 25-year IBR discharge may be taxable under current law. |
If you do not choose a plan | RAP requires an active plan choice or enrolment. | IBR also requires enrolment; eligible legacy borrowers may choose it instead of RAP. |
Pros & Cons Breakdown
Analyze the advantages and drawbacks of each financial product before making a decision.
Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) Pros & Cons
Advantages of Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP)
- The RAP interest waiver prevents unpaid monthly interest from making an on-time borrower's balance grow during the modelled period.
- The principal match reduces a low-payment borrower's principal by an additional amount under the 2026 rule.
- A $50 monthly reduction applies for each qualifying dependent claimed on the federal return, subject to the $10 floor.
- Eligible RAP payments count toward PSLF when the borrower also meets the job and loan requirements.
Disadvantages of Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP)
- RAP's $10 floor rules out a zero-dollar required payment even at very low AGI.
- At higher AGI, the percentage applies to full AGI without an IBR-style poverty-guideline deduction or Standard-plan cap.
- Without PSLF, RAP's remaining-balance discharge takes 30 years of qualifying payments under current rules.
- Parent PLUS loans and consolidation loans that include them cannot enter RAP.
Legacy Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Pros & Cons
Advantages of Legacy Income-Based Repayment (IBR)
- A legacy IBR payment can be zero below 150% of the applicable poverty guideline.
- The payment never exceeds the ten-year Standard amount determined for the eligible loans under IBR rules.
- IBR payments can earn the same PSLF credit as RAP payments when all other PSLF requirements are met.
- Without PSLF, the 10% and 15% IBR cohorts have 20- and 25-year discharge horizons, shorter than RAP's 30 years.
Disadvantages of Legacy Income-Based Repayment (IBR)
- The 15% IBR cohort can owe materially more than a borrower on the 10% formula at the same AGI and family size.
- IBR does not carry RAP's general unpaid-interest waiver or principal-matching feature.
- IBR access needs confirmation for the particular loan disbursement and consolidation history.
- A monthly figure alone does not show outstanding interest, future income changes or possible tax on IDR discharge.
What this choice actually costs you
Compare RAP and IBR on the same public-service clock
Dana is a single public-service employee with $65,000 adjusted gross income, no tax-return dependents and $35,000 of eligible unsubsidized Direct-loan principal. Suppose her current rate is 6%, she qualifies for the legacy 10% IBR formula and she has no prior PSLF payments. The RAP band above $60,000 through $70,000 is 6% of full AGI, or $325 a month. The 2026 contiguous-state poverty guideline for one person is $15,960; 150% is $23,940. IBR therefore calculates 10% of $65,000 minus $23,940, divided by 12, or about $342.17 monthly. These amounts are payment estimates, not a statement about Dana's actual loan account.
The distinction that matters is the clock. Federal Student Aid's 2026 RAP guidance and the Education Department's final-rule summary say qualifying on-time RAP payments can count for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Legacy IBR payments can count too. If Dana completes the same 120 qualifying public-service payments, the simple unchanged-income model puts her future borrower payments near $39,000 on RAP and $41,060 on IBR. The lower RAP total is a result of this income band and 10% IBR assumption, not a rule that RAP is always cheaper. An IBR payment can fall to zero at lower income while RAP has a $10 floor.
A job change, income recertification, loan consolidation, mixed disbursement dates or prior PSLF credit changes Dana's result. Enter the qualifying-payment count shown in StudentAid.gov so the widget projects only the remaining months; it does not charge past payments again. Checking the public-service box assumes the borrower will keep qualifying employment for the remaining payments. Neither an IDR enrolment nor a job title alone guarantees PSLF. Review the employer and loan records before interpreting a ten-year line as a promise.
RAP's income brackets have sharp boundaries
RAP applies a percentage to full adjusted gross income rather than IBR's income above 150% of a poverty guideline. The 2026 RAP table from the federal loan servicer Edfinancial starts with a $10 monthly minimum through $10,000 of AGI. It uses 1% above $10,000 through $20,000, rises by one percentage point at each $10,000 band, and reaches 10% only above $100,000. After that base calculation, the bill is reduced by $50 for each dependent actually claimed on the borrower's federal tax return, but never below $10. A spouse is not automatically a $50 dependent.
For a single borrower with no dependents, exactly $60,000 AGI is in the 5% band and produces a $250 monthly RAP amount. At $61,000, the 6% band produces $305. The $55 difference in the required monthly bill follows the statutory step, before considering income tax or later recertification. A borrower should not interpret that as losing $660 forever from a $1,000 raise: future AGI, payment years and any payoff can change. The line chart shows selected bands only; the live widget accepts a more precise AGI value.
RAP also treats the loan balance differently. For a full, on-time payment below monthly interest, the government waives the unpaid interest. If the payment lowers principal by less than $50, a matching reduction can bring the principal decline up to the lesser of $50 or the borrower's payment. At a $10 RAP bill fully used for interest, the model adds a $10 principal reduction, not a fictional $50 giveaway. The servicer's principal-match explanation is the source. A borrower with a subsidized loan, missed payment or multiple rates needs the federal repayment calculator for the exact ledger.
IBR eligibility and interest change the other side
Legacy IBR is not a single 10% product. Federal Student Aid's marriage and repayment guide distinguishes a 10% new-borrower formula from an older 15% formula. Both use income above 150% of the relevant poverty guideline and cap the required monthly bill at the ten-year Standard amount for the eligible loans. A borrower must verify which cohort applies rather than using the 10% figure because it sounds familiar. The widget therefore asks for that percentage. The example uses the 2026 HHS guideline for the contiguous states and DC; Alaska and Hawaii have separate figures.
IBR has no RAP-wide interest waiver or principal match. Eligible subsidized loans can receive a limited interest benefit early in repayment, but this widget deliberately models unsubsidized principal and tracks unpaid IBR interest separately without automatically compounding it. Existing accrued interest, capitalization events and several loan rates are outside the model. The displayed amount that might remain at forgiveness is therefore an illustration, not a servicer payoff quote. Change the interest-rate input to see the estimated balance change, and read your own loan statement for the rates attached to each debt.
After the first bill, income is likely to change. A borrower with 15% IBR may later hit the Standard payment cap; a RAP borrower with higher earnings can face an amount above that cap. Without PSLF, RAP has a 30-year qualifying-payment horizon while IBR uses 20 or 25 years depending on cohort. Those are potential discharge points, not promises that a loan remains outstanding to the final month. The model stops charging borrower payments once a balance is repaid. It excludes any tax on a future non-PSLF discharge because the borrower's tax law, rate and discharged balance decades later cannot be known today.
Check the date and type of each loan before switching
The Education Department's SAVE transition announcement told enrolled borrowers to respond within the 90-day deadline stated in their own servicer notice. A borrower who misses that window can be put on Standard or Tiered Standard, depending on the loan portfolio. That is a plan assignment, not a cancellation of the debt. The exact deadline should come from the servicer communication, not a date guessed from a news article. Some borrowers have existing qualifying PSLF credit; check it before consolidating because a new loan may be treated differently from an old loan.
For loans first disbursed from 1 July 2026, RAP is the principal income-driven route. Tiered Standard has a fixed term based on principal balance and, under current servicer guidance, its payments do not earn PSLF credit. Federal Student Aid's updated IDR FAQ distinguishes all-new, all-old and mixed-disbursement portfolios. Mixed portfolios need loan-level review. The checkbox in this widget asks whether legacy IBR is confirmed for the particular loans being compared; if not, it deliberately suppresses a two-plan price winner. The old rule in this page that any new loan automatically erased IBR access for every older loan was too broad.
Parent PLUS loans, including consolidations that paid them off, cannot use RAP under current rules. A parent may have separate legacy ICR or IBR possibilities tied to consolidation and enrolment dates, so the page does not declare a universal path for every old parent loan. New parent borrowing has annual and aggregate limits with exceptions; those limits do not make a Parent PLUS balance eligible for this widget. Public Service Loan Forgiveness itself is federally tax-free under current federal law, while state treatment requires checking the borrower's state. Federal Student Aid's official repayment calculator remains the final place to test a specific mix of loans, employment history and filing status.
The Verdict
Use the cheaper eligible payment on the same PSLF clock; verify IBR before choosing
For Dana, a single qualifying public-service borrower in the contiguous states with $65,000 AGI, no dependents, $35,000 of unsubsidized Direct-loan principal and a 6% illustrative rate, RAP starts at $325 a month and 10% IBR at about $342.17. If income and eligibility stayed fixed and she completed 120 qualifying payments, both plans could earn PSLF credit. Her modelled future payments would be about $39,000 on RAP or $41,060 on IBR before any actual balance discharge: RAP is about $2,060 lower in this narrow scenario. Both routes require her qualifying job and payments. The tool does not assume that RAP must run for 30 years while IBR gets PSLF in ten. A private-sector borrower faces different 30-year RAP and 20- or 25-year IBR horizons; a borrower without confirmed legacy IBR access has no two-plan verdict. Use StudentAid.gov to confirm plan eligibility and loan-level PSLF counts before switching.
Choose Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) if...
An eligible Direct-loan borrower whose actual RAP payment and subsidy terms beat an available IBR quote, including a public-service worker using RAP toward PSLF.
Choose Legacy Income-Based Repayment (IBR) if...
A borrower with confirmed legacy 10% or 15% IBR access whose verified payment or shorter non-PSLF discharge horizon better fits the loan and income facts.
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Sources & references
These links include relevant regulators and page-specific references. Worked examples and projections may also use stated assumptions: