What a student loan really costs
A $50,000 loan is not a $50,000 decision. At a typical rate, paid back over the standard ten years, it costs closer to $70,000 — and stretched over twenty-five, closer to $106,000. This page does the arithmetic so you can see the whole number before you sign, not after.
Try your own numbers
Change the amount, the rate, or the term. Nothing is sent anywhere — the maths runs in your browser.
Standard plan — 10 years
$348per month
- Total repaid
- $41,799
- Interest paid
- $11,799
Longer term — 25 years
$212per month
- Total repaid
- $63,610
- Interest paid
- $33,610
Borrow $30,000 and repay it over 25 years instead of 10, and you pay $21,811 more — $63,610 in all, about 2.1× what you borrowed. The monthly payment is smaller; the loan is not.
An estimate, not financial advice. Straight amortization at a fixed rate: it assumes every payment is made on time and the rate never changes, and it leaves out fees, interest that accrues while you’re still enrolled, and any forgiveness or income-driven plan. Planning4College is not a financial advisor and sells no loans. Check real terms with your school’s financial aid office and studentaid.gov.
Why the total is so much bigger than the loan
Interest is charged on what you still owe, every month, for as long as you owe it. Two things decide how much you pay in the end: the rate, and how long you take. The rate is mostly set for you. The term is the part families underestimate.
A longer term lowers the payment and raises the price. Stretching a loan makes each month easier and the loan itself more expensive, because you are renting the money for longer. Both things are true at once, and only one of them shows up in the monthly figure a lender leads with.
The same loan, three sizes
| You borrow | 10-year payment | 10-year total | 25-year payment | 25-year total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $20,000 | $232/mo | $27,866 | $141/mo | $42,407 |
| $35,000 | $406/mo | $48,766 | $247/mo | $74,212 |
| $50,000 | $581/mo | $69,665 | $353/mo | $106,017 |
Read the last column against the first. That gap is the interest.
What to do with this
Nothing on this page tells you whether to borrow — that depends on things we cannot see. What it can do is make the comparison honest:
- Compare colleges on net price, not sticker price. Every college page here shows it, along with what students there typically borrow.
- Run each college’s own net price calculator. It is the only estimate based on your family’s finances rather than an average.
- Put the likely debt into the calculator above before you choose, and look at the monthly payment next to the kind of salary the field actually pays.
- Exhaust grants, scholarships and federal aid before private loans. Only the last of those has to be repaid on terms set by a company.
How to pay for college walks through the pieces — grants, scholarships, loans, and the FAFSA — in plain terms.
The fine print, in full
Planning4College is not a financial advisor, a lender, or a broker. We sell no loans, take no referral fees, and have no financial relationship with any lender or college. Nothing here is financial advice, and no figure on this page is an offer.
The calculator is standard fixed-rate amortization. It assumes the rate never changes and every payment is made on time, and it ignores origination fees, interest that accrues while you are still enrolled, capitalisation, prepayment, forgiveness, and income-driven repayment plans — any of which can move the real total in either direction. Treat the output as the shape of the thing, not a quote.
For real terms, current federal rates, and your own loan history, go to studentaid.gov and to the financial aid office at the college itself.
Cost is one part of fit
See which colleges match your budget, your grades, and what you want to study.
Find your match — free