Use this calculator to estimate your monthly payments on federal parent 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
Follow the steps below to calculate your monthly payments.
- Loan amount: Enter the total amount you plan to borrow. Keep in mind, parents who are eligible for the limited exception may apply for the full cost of attendance minus any other financial aid. Parents who are not eligible for the limited exception can only borrow up to $20,000. More on this below.
- Interest rate: Enter the interest rate for your PLUS loan. This rate varies depending on the year you borrow; for loans disbursed between July 1, 2026 and July 1, 2027 it’s 9.07%.
- Origination fee: Enter the loan’s origination fee, which is 4.228% of the amount you borrow. Lenders deducted this fee from the loan amount prior to sending you the funds.
- Term: Enter the number of years you need to repay the loan. The standard repayment term is 10 years.
Understanding your results
Once you click the calculate button, you’ll see the following results:
- How much you borrowed: This is the total amount you borrowed.
- Origination fee deducted from loan: This is the amount subtracted from the total amount you borrowed.
- How much your student will receive for school: This is the loan amount your student will receive. It's the borrowed amount minus the origination fee.
- Monthly payment: This is the minimum amount you must pay each month during repayment to stay current.
- Total you'll repay over the loan term: This is the amount you borrow plus interest that accrues over the loan repayment term.
Typically, PLUS loans are repaid within 10 years. 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
Once you know your results, consider ways to lower the total amount you owe.
Pay more than the minimum
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.
Lower your monthly payments
There are several PLUS loan repayment options, including refinancing with a private lender to possibly lower your interest rate and monthly payment.
Limited exception eligibility
Whether or not you are eligible for the limited exception determines how much money you'll be able to borrow. Parents who are eligible may be able to borrow the full cost of attendance minus any other financial aid. The full cost of attendance is determined by the particular school your child is planning on attending. Parents who are not eligible can only borrow up to $20,000 per dependent student.
Eligibility: To be eligible for the limited exception, you must be a parent of an undergraduate student who meets the following criteria.
- Been enrolled in an eligible collegiate program as of June 30, 2026 with no stoppages of enrollment as of July 1, 2026.
- If you've borrowed a Direct Loan before July 1, 2026 (or you, as the parent, have borrowed a PLUS loan for that student), you may still be eligible. This means you would avoid the new Parent PLUS borrowing caps.
- Continues to be enrolled in the same program and at the same institution.
Income-driven repayment
If you took out parent PLUS loans before July 1, 2026, and consolidated them into a Direct Consolidation Loan by that date, you may still be able to use income-contingent repayment (ICR). But ICR is set to sunset by June 30, 2028, at which point these borrowers will move to income-based repayment (IBR).
Parent PLUS loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2026, are no longer eligible for any income-driven repayment plan. Instead, they're repaid under a fixed Tiered Standard Repayment Plan, with no option to tie payments to income and no path to income-driven forgiveness.
Other student loan calculators
- Student loan payoff calculator: Use this calculator to find your debt-free date, and see how extra payments can speed that up.
- Student loan refinance calculator: Use this calculator to compare your current loan payment or multiple payments with a refinanced student loan.
- Student loan consolidation calculator: Use this calculator to compare your payments under federal loan consolidation plans with your current bills.
- Income-driven repayment calculator: Use this calculator to determine what you would pay under federal income-driven repayment plans.
