ConverterHub

Student Loan Payment Calculator

Know your student loan monthly payment instantly

How it is calculated

Inputs are the loan amount, the annual interest rate in percent and the term in years. The tool sets the monthly rate i = rate ÷ 100 ÷ 12 and the number of payments n = years × 12. The fixed payment is M = P × i ÷ (1 − (1 + i)−n), where P is the loan amount. If the rate is 0, it is just P ÷ n. Total paid is M × n and total interest is total paid minus P. Amounts are shown in dollars. The calculation assumes equal monthly payments from day one, interest compounded monthly, and no grace period, deferment, capitalised interest, fees, extra payments or income-based plans, all of which change a real loan. Loan amount and years must be greater than zero, and the rate cannot be negative.

Worked example

A $30,000 loan at 6% over 10 years. Monthly rate: 6 ÷ 100 ÷ 12 = 0.005. Payments: 10 × 12 = 120. The factor (1.005)−120 is about 0.5496, so the denominator is 1 − 0.5496 = 0.4504. The numerator is 30,000 × 0.005 = 150. Then 150 ÷ 0.4504 gives a monthly payment of $333.06. Over 120 payments the total is $39,967.38, so interest is $9,967.38.

Try this example →

Common mistakes

  • Entering the rate as 0.06. The field takes 6 for 6%.
  • Entering the term in months. The field is in years, so a 120-month term is 10, not 120.
  • Ignoring interest that accrues while you are still studying. If interest is added to the balance first, the amount to enter is larger than what you originally borrowed.
  • Comparing only monthly payments between terms. A longer term lowers the payment but raises total interest, so look at the total interest line too.
  • Expecting extra payments to be modelled. The result assumes you pay exactly the same amount each month for the whole term.

About this calculator

This calculator uses the standard loan amortization formula M = P × [r(1+r)^n] / [(1+r)^n − 1], where P is the loan balance, r is the monthly interest rate (annual rate ÷ 12), and n is the number of monthly payments. The monthly amount is fixed for the whole term by design; what shifts over the loan's life is how each payment is split, since early payments are weighted more toward interest and later ones toward principal.

Students and families use it to compare federal versus private loan offers before signing, financial aid offices use the same math to build repayment estimators, and borrowers approaching graduation use it to check how a 10-year versus 20-year term changes both the monthly bill and the total interest paid.

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