What will you actually pay on RAP?
The Repayment Assistance Plan charges 1–10% of your adjusted gross income — and that percentage lands on every dollar of it, not just the dollars above the line. It is not a tax bracket. Cross a $10,000 boundary by one dollar and your payment jumps a full percentage point of your whole income. Every other RAP calculator prints the table and hides that. This one shows you exactly how close to the edge you are.
Your RAP payment
How that number is built
Over the full 30-year term
Email me my result + the RAP switching checklist
The 2026 RAP payment table
Worked examples
The cliff, in one pair of numbers
$750.00/month → $833.34/month
One extra dollar of income costs $83.34 more every month — $1,000 a year, forever, for a dollar. That is because the 10% band applies to the whole $100,001, not to the one dollar above $100,000. The same trap sits at every $10,000 line, and it is proportionally worst at the bottom: at $20,000 the payment is $16.67, at $20,001 it is $33.34 — double.
Teacher, two kids, $52,000
Payment: $116.67/month
- Band $50,001–$60,000 → 5% of $52,000 = $2,600/year
- ÷ 12 = $216.67
- − $100 for 2 dependents = $116.67/month — 2.69% of income
- You are $8,000 below the next line ($60,000). Crossing it takes the payment to $200.01 — +$83.34/month, or $1,000 a year
- Over 30 years: you pay $42,001, ED waives $10,043 of interest and matches $16,939 of principal, and $17,000 is forgiven at month 360
- The Standard 10-year plan on the same balance would be $397.95/month and $47,754 total — cheaper overall, three times the monthly
$50,000 balance on a $30,000 income — what forgiveness actually looks like
Payment: $50.00/month (2% of $30,000 ÷ 12)
- Monthly interest starts at about $272 — your $50 never touches principal
- Because unpaid interest is waived, the balance still never grows
- The $50 monthly principal match does all the work: the balance falls exactly $50 a month
- After 360 payments you have paid $18,000, ED has waived $62,368 in interest and matched $18,000 in principal, and $32,000 is forgiven
- Note the tax question: a forgiven balance may count as income in the year it is forgiven
Small balance, small income — RAP pays most of it
Payment: $10.00/month (1% of $12,000 = $120/year = $10)
- The $50 match clears $50 of principal a month, so the loan is gone in 60 months
- You pay $600 total on a $3,000 loan; ED covers $2,898 between the match and the waived interest
- This is the one case where RAP is dramatically cheaper than anything else — small balance, low income
Examples are recomputed whenever the payment table or the plan rules change; the date above is the last recompute.
Methodology & data sources
The Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) was created by P.L. 119-21 (H.R.1, enacted 4 July 2025) and opens for applications on 1 July 2026. Your annual repayment amount is a share of adjusted gross income that steps up by one percentage point per $10,000 band — $120 flat at or below $10,000 of AGI, 1% from $10,001, up to 10% above $100,000. That annual figure is divided by 12, reduced by $50 for each dependent you claim on your federal return, and floored at $10 a month. Because the percentage is applied to your full AGI rather than marginally, each band boundary is a genuine cliff — we compute how far you are from yours and what crossing it costs, which none of the RAP calculators we surveyed do. Two subsidies are modelled explicitly: interest that your payment does not cover is waived rather than capitalised, so your balance cannot grow; and when an on-time payment fails to reduce principal by $50, the Department of Education makes a matching principal payment up to $50 a month. The projection runs to 360 qualifying payments (30 years), after which the remaining balance is forgiven — PSLF still forgives at 120. It holds your AGI, dependents and rate constant, which is an assumption, not a forecast; RAP recertifies income annually. We do not project future band boundaries: whether the $10,000 lines are indexed to inflation is not stated on any source we were able to verify, so the tool computes against the current statutory bands only.
Sources: Federal Student Aid servicer — Repayment Assistance Plan · Federal Student Aid — repayment plans · CRS IF13075 — RAP in P.L. 119-21 · U.S. Department of Education fact sheet. Cross-checks: NerdWallet (updated 30 Jul 2026), Fidelity, The College Investor (29 Jun 2026), Student Loan Planner (6 Jul 2026), Massachusetts Attorney General.
Frequently asked questions
Is the RAP percentage marginal, like a tax bracket?
No. That is the single most expensive misunderstanding about this plan. The percentage applies to your entire AGI. At $100,000 you pay 9% of $100,000; at $100,001 you pay 10% of $100,001. The extra dollar costs you $83.34 a month for as long as you stay there. Before accepting a small raise or a side gig that pushes you just over a line, run both numbers here.
Can my balance grow while I'm on RAP?
No. Interest your payment doesn't cover is waived, not capitalised. And if your payment doesn't knock $50 off the principal, the Department of Education makes up the difference, to a maximum of $50 a month. Your balance falls by at least $50 every month you pay on time.
Which loans qualify?
Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans, Grad PLUS, and Direct Consolidation loans that don't include a Parent PLUS loan. Parent PLUS is excluded.
Does my spouse's income count?
If you file jointly, yes — the payment is based on your combined AGI, reduced if your spouse also carries federal student loans. If you file separately, only your own income and your own claimed dependents count. Filing separately usually costs you elsewhere on the tax return, so compare both.
Do I have to switch?
If your loans were first disbursed on or after 1 July 2026, you can only use RAP or the new tiered Standard plan. If you're on PAYE, ICR or SAVE, those end 1 July 2028 and you'll have to move. One trap: months paid on RAP don't count toward IBR forgiveness, although IBR history does count toward RAP — so switching out later can cost you the time you served.
Is the forgiven balance taxed?
It may be treated as income in the year it's forgiven. Thirty years is a long time for a tax rule to hold still, so confirm the rule that applies in your forgiveness year rather than assuming today's.