Credible takeaways
- The average student loan payment varies widely depending on your loan balance, interest rate, and repayment term, making costs highly individual.
- Undergraduate students leave college with an average of $29,560 in combined federal and private student loan debt.
- A $29,560 balance repaid over 10 years at a 6% interest rate would result in a monthly payment of about $328.
- A longer repayment term lowers your monthly payment but increases the total interest you pay, while a shorter term generally means higher monthly payments and lower overall costs.
Student loan payments can take up a big part of your budget, but there’s no standard amount most borrowers can expect to pay each month. What you owe depends on factors like your balance, interest rate, repayment plan, and sometimes even your income.
We’ll explain what typical federal and private loan payments look like, help you estimate your own costs, and share ways to make your monthly bill more manageable.
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Average monthly student loan payment
Your monthly student loan payment depends on factors such as your total loan balance, interest rate, and repayment term length.
The average student loan balance for undergraduates leaving college is $29,560, according to the College Board. On a standard 10-year repayment schedule with a 6% interest rate, that balance would result in a monthly payment of about $328.
You may pay less if you have a smaller balance or qualify for a repayment plan with lower payments. However, you could pay significantly more if you have a larger balance, graduate school debt, or a shorter repayment term. The $328 figure is only an estimate based on one common repayment scenario.
Editor insight: “An ‘average’ student loan payment that you might expect to pay is difficult to determine due to the vast range of different balances, interest rates, repayment terms, and, for federal loans, income-based repayment plans that can set payments anywhere from zero to several hundred dollars. I strongly advise calculating your own payment using these factors, since that’s the only way to get a clear and realistic number for your situation.”
— Richard Richtmyer, Student Loans Managing Editor, Credible
Estimating how much you’ll pay
If you plan on borrowing money for college, knowing the average student loan payment can be helpful, but what’s more important is making sure your loans are going to be affordable for you.
To estimate how much you'll pay monthly on student loans, start by taking the following things into account:
- Your school’s cost of attendance: Schools publish their estimated cost of attendance, and you are allowed to borrow up to that amount using a combination of federal and private student loans. See how much your school costs, subtract any savings, scholarships, or grants you'll receive, and the amount left over is the amount you'll borrow. The more loans you must take out, the more expensive the repayment will be.
- Type of degree program: Some degrees take longer to earn than others, for example, medical or law degrees. Consider what degree you're trying to earn and the number of years you'll be in school so you can better estimate the total amount you'll need to borrow.
- Type of student loans: Federal student loans have low fixed interest rates. Private student loans could have fixed or variable rates, and the rate you'll pay depends on your credit score, income, and other financial credentials. There are limits on how much federal aid you're entitled to. Your financial aid package from your school will tell you what sources of funding are available, so you can see if you need to supplement federal aid with private student loans.
- Your repayment terms: Finally, your repayment terms, including interest rate and repayment timeline, will affect how much you pay monthly. The higher the rate and the longer the payoff time, the more expensive your monthly payment will be.
You can use an online student loan calculator to input potential loan details, allowing you to estimate monthly payments and total costs over time.
Check Out: How To Take Out a Student Loan
How to lower your monthly payment
Whether you have federal or private student loans, you have options to lower your monthly payment if repaying the debt becomes a struggle.
If you have federal loans, you can often reduce your monthly payment by changing your repayment plan. Income-driven plans cap payments at a percentage of income, and in some cases, your payment could be as low as $0 a month. Depending on your plan, any balance that remains after 20 or 30 years of repayment could be forgiven.
The Department of Education also offers options to pause payments temporarily through either deferment or forbearance. This can bring your payment down to $10 on a temporary basis until you're able to get into a better situation to pay. Just remember that interest generally accrues still.
If you have private student loans, you may also be able to refinance to lower your monthly payment. With a good credit score, you can potentially secure a lower interest rate that could significantly reduce the total amount you pay over the life of your loan.
Just remember to avoid refinancing your federal loans if you don’t want to lose access to benefits like income-driven repayment and forgiveness programs.
FAQ
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