Parent PLUS Loan Calculator

Use the parent PLUS loan calculator to estimate your monthly payments and find out how much you'll pay overall.

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Use this calculator to estimate your monthly payments on federal direct PLUS loans. You can also see the total you'll repay, including interest. Submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, to qualify for parent PLUS loans and other federal student aid such as grants, work-study and federal student loans.

NerdWallet's Parent PLUS Loan Calculator

How to use this calculator

Enter the total amount you plan to borrow.

Enter the interest rate for the PLUS loan. Your interest rate will vary depending on the year you borrow. The current rate for 2024-25 parent PLUS loans is 9.09%.

Include the origination fee for your PLUS loan. The fee is 4.228% of the total amount borrowed for loans made on or after Oct. 1, 2020, and before Oct. 1, 2022.

The amount you borrow is not actually what you receive from a loan. You'll receive the amount after the origination fee amount is deducted from the loan total.

Understanding your results

This is the total amount you borrowed.

This is the origination fee subtracted from the total amount you borrowed.

This is the total amount from the PLUS loan you borrowed that your student will receive. It's the total amount after the origination fee is deducted.

This is the minimum amount you must pay each month during repayment to stay current.

The total you'll repay is the amount you borrow, including interest that accrues daily and is included as part of your monthly bill, over the loan repayment term. Typically, PLUS loans are repaid within 10 years.

This total does not account for the parent PLUS loan deferment. If you defer payments while your child is in school, interest will accrue and be added to the loan's balance when it enters repayment, increasing the amount you repay.

Use your results to save money

You can submit more than your monthly minimum to pay off your loan faster. The quicker you finish paying your loans, the more you’ll save in interest. Learn how to pay off parent PLUS loans faster.

If you're having difficulty making payments on the standard 10-year federal repayment plan, income-contingent repayment will reduce your monthly PLUS loan payment to 20% of your discretionary income or the amount you'd pay on a fixed 12-year repayment schedule, whichever is less. It also offers forgiveness after 25 years. On an income-contingent plan, you’ll pay more in interest and you’ll be required to pay income tax on any amount forgiven.

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