Repayment plans / Payoff calculator
Last verified Oct 17, 2026
Pay extra on a student loan: how much sooner, how much saved
Federal student loans can be paid off early at any time with no penalty. Enter your loan and what you could add.
Tell your servicer how to apply it. A payment bigger than the amount due is a prepayment. If it is at least a full monthly payment, the servicer moves your next due date forward unless you ask it not to (34 CFR 685.211). To have extra money shorten the loan instead of skipping a bill, ask the servicer not to advance your due date.
On RAP? Extra money goes to interest first, so it can shrink or cancel that month’s interest waiver and $50 principal match, and an advanced due date means months with no bill and no match. Run your RAP numbers in the RAP calculator before paying extra.
Aiming for PSLF? PSLF needs 120 qualifying monthly payments made while you work full time for a qualifying employer (34 CFR 685.219), so paying extra doesn’t shorten that clock; it only lowers the balance that would be forgiven.
Where an extra payment goes
On most federal plans, a payment covers fees and collection costs first, then interest, then principal. On IBR and RAP, interest comes first, then fees, then principal (34 CFR 685.211(a)). Once interest is covered, every extra dollar reduces principal, which lowers the interest charged the next month.