PSLF Forgiveness Calculator

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) cancels the remaining balance on federal Direct loans after 120 qualifying monthly payments while you work full-time for a government or 501(c)(3) nonprofit employer. For many residents, nurses, pharmacists and physicians at academic or nonprofit hospitals, it's the single biggest money decision of their early career.

This calculator estimates what you'll pay before forgiveness, how much would be forgiven, and how that compares with paying the loan off on the 10-year standard plan.

What this calculator does

It simulates your loan month by month until you reach 120 qualifying payments. Each month it works out your income-driven payment from your income, adds interest, applies the plan's rules, and tracks your balance. Whatever is left at payment 120 is the forgiven amount.

You can model two income levels — your income now and your income after training or a promotion — plus yearly raises after that. That matters, because PSLF works best when your income is low for some of the 10 years.

The formula in plain English

Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). RAP started on July 1, 2026, and it's the only income-driven plan for loans first disbursed on or after that date. Your payment is a percentage of your total adjusted gross income (AGI): 1% if your AGI is between $10,000 and $20,000, rising one point for every extra $10,000, up to 10% once AGI is above $100,000. Divide by 12, then subtract $50 a month for each dependent. The minimum payment is $10.

RAP also has two protections that this calculator includes:

• If your payment doesn't cover the month's interest, the unpaid interest is waived.
• If your payment reduces principal by less than $50, the government adds a match so principal falls by $50 (or by your payment amount, if that's smaller).

Income-Based Repayment (IBR). Your payment is 10% (or 15% for older loans) of discretionary income: AGI minus 150% of the federal poverty guideline for your household size. For 2026 that guideline is $15,960 for one person plus $5,680 for each extra person. IBR payments never go above what you'd pay on the 10-year standard plan.

Forgiven amount = the balance left after your last qualifying payment.

A worked example

Maya is a PGY-1 internal medicine resident at a nonprofit academic hospital. She has $200,000 in federal loans at 6.5%, earns $72,000, and expects about $280,000 as an attending after three years of residency, with 3% raises after that. She's single, with no dependents, and chooses RAP.

• During residency, 7% of $72,000 is $5,040 a year, or $420 a month. That doesn't cover her interest (about $1,080 a month), so RAP waives the rest and adds a principal match.
• As an attending, 10% of $280,000 is about $2,333 a month, rising with her raises.
• After 120 payments she has paid about $230,000, and roughly $43,000 is forgiven tax-free.
• On the standard 10-year plan, she would have paid about $272,500.

The savings come almost entirely from those three low-payment training years. If Maya had a longer fellowship, or chose a lower-paying specialty, the forgiven amount would be much larger.

Why it matters at each career stage

If you're: Student

Choose federal Direct loans over private loans if you can, and don't refinance federal loans while you're in school. If your loans are first disbursed after July 1, 2026, RAP will be your only income-driven option, and federal borrowing caps for graduate and professional students are lower than before, so plan early for any gap.

If you're: Resident / fellow

This is when PSLF pays off most. Get on a qualifying plan right away, make sure your employer qualifies, and certify your employment every year with the PSLF Help Tool. Don't put loans in forbearance during training — those months don't count.

If you're: Employed

If you're already at a nonprofit or government employer, count how many qualifying payments you've made and run the numbers with your real income. If PSLF only forgives a small amount, paying the loans off faster or refinancing might cost about the same and give you more freedom to change jobs.

If you're: Practice owner

Practice ownership usually isn't qualifying employment, so PSLF generally won't apply unless you also work for a qualifying employer full-time. Compare paying off aggressively with the other uses of your money, such as retirement plans and practice debt.

Things this calculator doesn't cover

It assumes every payment is on time and qualifying, your employer stays eligible, and your income follows the path you entered. It doesn't model spousal income in detail, buyback of past months, or state tax rules. The official PSLF Help Tool at StudentAid.gov is the final word on what counts.

If PSLF isn't for you, try the student loan payoff calculator, and read what changed with PSLF and repayment plans in 2026.