The Hamilton Project

Your Undergraduate Degree

Debt

About 70 percent of Bachelor’s graduates borrow before earning their degree, and the typical amount of student debt for those who borrowed was $26,500 as of 2012, the most recent year available.

Please enter a value between $0 and $200,000.

Interest

The interest rate on federal student loans changes each year and is currently 4.66% for the 2014-2015 school year. The interest rate on private student loans may be different.

Please enter a value between 0% and 15%.

Term

Standard student loans have a 10-year repayment term, but this period can be lengthened in some circumstances.

Please enter a value between 10 and 30 years.

Add. Pmt.

There are no fees or penalties for paying off federal student loans faster than the normal monthly payment and doing so will result in less total interest paid at the expense of a larger monthly payment. Enter any additional payment per month here.

Please enter a value between $0 and $1,000.

Earnings

Earnings Level: Some graduates earn more than others, even within the same major:

High: 75th percentile of earnings in this major.
Middle: 50th percentile of earnings in this major.
Low: 25th percentile of earnings in this major.

Always Work Full-Time: Because not everyone finds a full-time job right away, by default the earnings calculation includes all workers. Check the "Always Work Full-Time" box to show earnings based only on full-time workers in each repayment year.

Always Work Full-Time

Monthly Payment

Total Paid

Interest Paid

How hard will it be to pay off my loan?

Percent of Monthly Earnings Toward Monthly Loan Repayment

Compare with…

As a rule of thumb, loan repayments become more difficult when they exceed 10% of income, and default risk begins to rise sharply when they exceed 12% of income.

0–10%
10–12%
12%+

Share of Earnings to Repayment

Sum of Earnings over Term

To Loan Principal
To Loan Interest
Kept After Repayment

Earnings	$4,512
Loan Payment	$123