Academics · Subject Resources · Student loans

Borrow with the
payment in view.

Type each year’s subsidized and unsubsidized loans. The calculator checks the federal limits, adds the interest that builds in school, and shows the payment, the total repaid and how it compares with a starting salary.

Plan my loansWhat you get

The student loan borrowing calculator

The worked example is a dependent student borrowing the full yearly amount for four years from fall 2026. Nothing you type leaves this browser.

Loading the calculator. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Academics · Subject ResourcesFree

What you finish with
Your loans year by year against the limits, the balance at repayment, the term, the monthly payment, the total repaid and the borrowing left, with the debt and payment set against a starting salary. It prints as a one-page plan.
Who it is for
Seniors comparing aid offers, college students deciding how much of an offered loan to accept, and families planning the years ahead.
Format
Browser calculator for a phone, tablet or computer, by touch or keyboard. Prints a summary; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); export and import a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Subject Resources space in Caveat Academics.
Support
Questions, a correction or a request: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Pick dependent or independent.
  2. Add each year and grade level.
  3. Type the loan amounts.
  4. Check the rate and plan.
  5. Compare with a starting salary.

Plan my loans

How the loans are worked out

Limits, interest in school, then the payment.

The worked example: a dependent student, four yearsBorrowed$27,000four yearsInterest in school+$1,406unsubsidized onlyBalance$28,40615-year termPayment$245.73a monthThe worked example: a dependent student, four yearsBorrowed$27,000four yearsInterest in school+$1,406unsubsidized onlyBalance$28,40615-year termPayment$245.73a month
Subsidized loans do not build interest in school; unsubsidized loans do, and it is added to the balance at repayment. The balance sets the term under the tiered Standard plan and the payment follows.

The limits and the 2026 changes

A dependent undergraduate can borrow $5,500 in the first year, $6,500 in the second and $7,500 after that, $31,000 in all; independent students $9,500, $10,500 and $12,500, $57,500 in all. No more than $3,500, $4,500 and $5,500 of those can be subsidized, $23,000 in all. The 2025 reconciliation law left these undergraduate limits in place but replaced the repayment plans for loans made on or after July 1, 2026: a Standard plan whose term grows with the balance (10 years under $25,000, 15 under $50,000, 20 under $100,000, 25 above) and the income-based Repayment Assistance Plan.

Interest before repayment

The government pays the interest on subsidized loans during school and the six-month grace period. Unsubsidized interest starts at each disbursement; the page assumes half of each year’s loan arrives each term and adds that interest to the balance unless you pay it. Rates are fixed for the life of each loan and set each spring for the next award year, so a four-year plan really has four rates; 6.39% is the 2025–26 undergraduate rate.

Sources

  1. Federal Student Aid. Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans: how much can I borrow (studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsidized).
  2. Federal Student Aid. Interest rates and fees for federal student loans, 2025–26: 6.39% undergraduate rate, 1.057% fee (studentaid.gov).
  3. U.S. Department of Education. 2025–26 Federal Student Aid Handbook, Volume 8: Direct Loan annual and aggregate limits (fsapartners.ed.gov).
  4. Public Law 119-21 (2025), Title VIII: loan limits, the tiered Standard plan and the Repayment Assistance Plan for loans made on or after July 1, 2026 (congress.gov).

An estimate. Your aid offer, the Master Promissory Note and your loan servicer decide the real amounts; check studentaid.gov for the current year’s rate. Your entries stay in this browser. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.