Properly planning for your loan repayment is an important step in financial discipline as an adult and as a student. Although the loan repayment process (or the mere thought of it) might be frightening, several tools and resources are available to make it easier.
The US Department of Education has made available a free tool for loan simulation called Loan Simulator, designed to help you understand the loan repayment process, estimate monthly repayment plans, and make informed decisions.
Estimating your loan repayment with the loan simulator
To get started with this tool, log in using your FSA ID (Federal Student Aid ID). This will auto update your information on the loan simulator software. If you’d prefer, you can choose to manually enter your details.
The loan simulator uses the updated information —including your salary and the balance and interest rates for each of your student loans— to personalize tips that help you achieve your loan repayment mode.
The loan simulator works with three models:
- Compare repayment plan options to reach specific goals.
- Explore options for lowering or pausing monthly payments.
- Simulate the impact of borrowing additional student loans.
Compare repayment plan options to reach specific goal
In this module, your repayment option is analyzed based on your short and long termshort- and long-term goals. You will need to answer a few questions, after which you can choose from the given list of repayment goal options like:
- Pay off my loans as quickly as possible
- Have a low monthly payment
- Pay the lowest total amount over time
- Choose my monthly payment
- Pay off my loans by a certain date
You can also settle on no specific goal.
Based on the goal you picked, the tool will offer you repayment plan most suitable for achieving your goal. Using the repayment plan picked for you, you will noticesee;
- Estimated monthly payments
- Estimated total which you’ll pay over the life of the loan.
- Expected payoff data estimated forgiveness amount if you are planning to apply for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).
You can click through additional options and toggle between different goals to see the easiest which works for you. The loan simulator also shows how each plan will affect you if you apply for PSLF and will equally reflect the repayment plan that will go best for those with future plans of loan forgiveness.
Explore options for lowering or pausing monthly payments
If you are struggling with monthly payment of loan, this loan simulator module helps you navigate your options for lowering or pausing the monthly payment. The simulator gives the pros and cons of the different available options based on your situation. These may include enrolling in income-driven repayment or applying for deferment or forbearance.
The tool Indicates whether each option:
- Pauses payments or just lowers them
- Provides interest subsidy benefits or counts towards loan forgiveness programs
- Is a long term solution like enrolling in an income-driven repayment plan or short term solution like temporarily pausing monthly payments via deferment or forbearance.
You can joggle through different options just like the repayment plan estimator.
Simulate the impact of borrowing additional student loans
This is the newest module of the loan simulator introduced in November 2020. This module simulates the effect of borrowing additional student loans on your total loan balance as well as repayment options.
You will be required to input the amount you are borrowing, and the program needed for it, this module will then show how this will affect your entire loan repayment including the amount that will be added to your total loan balance and the effect on your monthly repayment.
