Which student loan repayment plan is best? By balance and income
Which student loan repayment plan is best depends on two numbers, not one: the balance and the income that has to carry it. The matrix below runs every balance from $30k to $300k against incomes from $50k to $150k — 44 borrowers, each on RAP, IBR, the standard 10-year plan and PSLF — and reports the cheapest plan in each cell with its lifetime cost, forgiveness tax included. Every cell is a full year-by-year projection: single filer in Texas, 28 years old, income growing 4% a year, 6.5% federal loans taken in 2026, run through age 60 so a 30-year RAP term and its forgiveness tax fall inside the window.
Cheapest plan by balance and income (not public service)
Each cell names the cheaper of the two plans open to every borrower — RAP or the standard 10-year plan — and its total cost: all payments, plus the tax charged in the year RAP forgives what is left at 30 years. Click a balance for the full plan-by-plan table at that amount.
| Balance | $50k income | $75k income | $100k income | $150k income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30k | Standard $41k | RAP $37k | RAP $34k | RAP $32k |
| $40k | Standard $55k | RAP $53k | RAP $47k | RAP $44k |
| $50k | Standard $68k | Standard $68k | RAP $61k | RAP $56k |
| $60k | Standard $82k | Standard $82k | RAP $76k | RAP $69k |
| $75k | Standard $102k† | Standard $102k | RAP $102k | RAP $90k |
| $100k | Standard $136k† | Standard $136k | Standard $136k | RAP $129k |
| $125k | Standard $170k† | Standard $170k | Standard $170k | Standard $170k |
| $150k | Standard $204k† | Standard $204k† | Standard $204k | Standard $204k |
| $200k | RAP $258k† | Standard $273k† | Standard $273k | Standard $273k |
| $250k | RAP $271k† | Standard $341k† | Standard $341k† | Standard $341k |
| $300k | RAP $283k† | Standard $409k† | Standard $409k† | Standard $409k |
† IBR, available only to loans taken before July 2026, costs less than either open plan in this cell.
Cheapest plan with PSLF (public service)
Under PSLF the question inverts: the balance left after 120 payments is discharged with no tax, so the plan with the lower payments is cheaper regardless of what it leaves behind. Each cell shows the lower of RAP + PSLF and IBR + PSLF by total paid over the ten years, or the age the loan is paid off when nothing survives to be forgiven.
| Balance | $50k income | $75k income | $100k income | $150k income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30k | IBR† $29k RAP $29k | paid off at 34 | paid off at 31 | paid off at 30 |
| $40k | IBR† $28k RAP $29k | IBR† $53k RAP paid off | paid off at 32 | paid off at 30 |
| $50k | IBR† $28k RAP $29k | IBR† $57k RAP $69k | paid off at 33 | paid off at 31 |
| $60k | IBR† $28k RAP $29k | IBR† $57k RAP $69k | IBR† $80k RAP paid off | paid off at 32 |
| $75k | IBR† $28k RAP $29k | IBR† $57k RAP $69k | IBR† $89k RAP paid off | paid off at 33 |
| $100k | IBR† $28k RAP $29k | IBR† $57k RAP $69k | IBR† $90k RAP $115k | IBR† $134k RAP paid off |
| $125k | IBR† $28k RAP $29k | IBR† $57k RAP $69k | IBR† $90k RAP $115k | IBR† $148k RAP paid off |
| $150k | IBR† $28k RAP $29k | IBR† $57k RAP $69k | IBR† $90k RAP $115k | IBR† $150k RAP $177k |
| $200k | IBR† $28k RAP $29k | IBR† $57k RAP $69k | IBR† $90k RAP $115k | IBR† $150k RAP $177k |
| $250k | IBR† $28k RAP $29k | IBR† $57k RAP $69k | IBR† $90k RAP $115k | IBR† $150k RAP $177k |
| $300k | IBR† $28k RAP $29k | IBR† $57k RAP $69k | IBR† $90k RAP $115k | IBR† $150k RAP $177k |
† IBR is open only to loans taken before July 2026; a newer loan's PSLF path is RAP, whose figure is the chip.
The four plans in one table
| Plan | Payment | Forgiveness | Taxed? |
|---|---|---|---|
| RAP | 1–10% of AGI by $10,000 band ($10/mo under $10,000), minus $50/mo per dependent; unpaid interest waived and the balance falls at least $50/mo (the payment, if less) | After 30 years | Yes, as income that year |
| IBR (loans from July 2014) | 10% of income above 150% of the poverty line ($23,940 for one person), never more than the standard 10-year payment; the balance grows when the payment is below the interest | After 20 years | Yes |
| IBR (loans before July 2014) | 15% of the same discretionary income, same cap | After 25 years | Yes |
| Standard | Fixed amortisation over 10 years at the loan's rate | None — paid in full | — |
| PSLF (on RAP or IBR) | The underlying plan's payment, while employed full-time in public service | After 120 payments | No |
Worked example, the persona at $100k and $75k: RAP $423/mo and $185,840 in total, IBR $405/mo and $167,207 ($76,890 forgiven at 48, $17,341 of tax on it), standard $1,135/mo and $136,258; with PSLF, RAP $68,768 and $86,128 forgiven. The RAP formula by AGI and dependents is on the RAP calculator; the two income-driven plans side by side are on RAP vs IBR.
Educational comparison, not advice. Figures are one persona — single filer in Texas, 28 years old, income growing 4% a year, 6.5% federal loans taken in 2026, run through age 60 so a 30-year RAP term and its forgiveness tax fall inside the window — run through Coastline's projection engine; a different income path, state, filing status or rate changes them. IBR is modelled on its post-2014 terms (10% of income above 150% of the poverty line, capped at the 10-year standard payment, forgiveness at 20 years); RAP's per-dependent reduction counts children aged 0–23. Repayment rules change often — verify current terms with your servicer and studentaid.gov, and model your own balance in the calculator.
The variable is the ratio, not the balance
Two people can owe the same amount and face opposite decisions. A $100,000 balance on a $150,000 salary is a large bill that a standard schedule clears in ten years with a payment the income barely notices; the same balance on a $50,000 salary is two years of gross pay, and a fixed ten-year payment would take more than a quarter of take-home. What separates the two is not the loan. It is the balance divided by the income that has to carry it.
That ratio is what the income-driven plans are built around. RAP and IBR ignore the balance when they set the payment and look only at income, so the same income-sized payment does opposite things at the two ends of the ladder: on a small balance it is larger than the ten-year schedule asks for and clears the loan sooner, with less interest; on a very large one it barely dents the principal, and the difference is made up at the end by forgiveness — taxed, outside public service, in the year it lands. In between, where the ten-year payment is affordable and the income-sized one is smaller, the standard schedule is the cheapest of the three.
Two things move a borrower across the line over time. Income growth pulls the ratio down every year a raise arrives, which is why a plan that looks right at 28 can look wrong at 35. And the forgiveness tax is the price of staying on the income-driven side; the matrix counts it, so a cell that still says RAP is saying it with that bill included. The honest way to read the table is to find the ratio, not the balance.
Common questions
Which student loan repayment plan is best?
Outside public service, the cheaper of the two open plans by lifetime cost: in this 44-cell matrix the standard 10-year plan wins 28 cells and RAP 16. RAP wins for two opposite reasons: at $30k on $75k, $30k on $100k, $30k on $150k, $40k on $100k, $40k on $150k, $50k on $100k, $50k on $150k, $60k on $100k, $60k on $150k, $75k on $150k, $100k on $150k RAP's income-based payment is at or above the ten-year payment, so the loan clears sooner with less interest; at $40k on $75k, $75k on $100k it starts below the ten-year payment but rises past it with income and still clears the loan before year 30; at $200k on $50k, $250k on $50k, $300k on $50k the balance is so large next to income that thirty years of capped payments plus the tax on the forgiven remainder cost less than paying it off. In public service the plan with the lower payment wins, because the balance left after 120 payments is discharged tax-free.
What is the cheapest student loan repayment plan?
The standard 10-year plan carries the least interest, so it is cheapest whenever its payment is affordable — $1,135 a month on $100k. RAP becomes cheaper once the balance is large next to income, because its payments are a share of AGI and whatever is left at 30 years is forgiven; the tax on that forgiven balance is included in every figure here. With PSLF the cheapest plan is simply the one with the lower payment.
Which repayment plan is best for PSLF?
The one with the lower qualifying payment, since the discharge is tax-free. IBR pays less over the ten years in every cell where anything is left to forgive — RAP's payment starts lower at $50k, but its bands are not inflation-indexed and it rises past IBR's within the ten years — and in 14 cells the payments clear the loan before payment 120, so PSLF changes nothing. IBR is only open to loans taken before July 2026; a newer loan's PSLF path is RAP.
Is RAP or the standard plan cheaper?
At $100k and a $75k income the standard plan costs $136,258 and RAP $185,840, so standard repayment is cheaper by $49,582. Across the matrix the standard plan is cheaper in 28 of 44 cells and RAP in 16. RAP wins for two opposite reasons: at $30k on $75k, $30k on $100k, $30k on $150k, $40k on $100k, $40k on $150k, $50k on $100k, $50k on $150k, $60k on $100k, $60k on $150k, $75k on $150k, $100k on $150k RAP's income-based payment is at or above the ten-year payment, so the loan clears sooner with less interest; at $40k on $75k, $75k on $100k it starts below the ten-year payment but rises past it with income and still clears the loan before year 30; at $200k on $50k, $250k on $50k, $300k on $50k the balance is so large next to income that thirty years of capped payments plus the tax on the forgiven remainder cost less than paying it off.