What Is the New Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) for Student Loans?

Payment Aid Plan, or Rap, is the latest Plan to pay students’ loanCreated by President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill”.

The project is scheduled to end on July 1, 2026. It will replace the current Paying from income Although the programs may have less monthly bills on rap compared to existing income payments with some lenders, they can also see a long payment period and pay more than overall.

Most federal students can access borrowers rap, including graduate school lenders. However, the borrowers are not eligible except the parents.

New and current lenders can sign up for rap starting July 1, 2026.

If you have taken out all your students’ loans before 1st July 2026You will have the payment options forward to:

The Department of Education will eliminate a valuable education (Save) savings by July 1, 2028, when you earn (Paye) and will pay the Income Contemporary Payment (ICR) projects. IBR and rap will be your only income -driven options.

If you borrow new students on or after 1st July 2026For, for, for,. All of your debts will be disqualified for graduates and extension plans as well as Ibr. (July 1, 2026 is the first day when you can take the Federal Student Loan for the 2026-27 academic year.)

Instead, you will have only two payment options:

• Standard payment plan, which is not connected to income.

This is the case even if you have some old loans, as you have to pay all the loans on the same payment project. For example:

• He says that you started your undergraduate program during the academic year of 2024-2025 and took the federal student loan. Then for the third academic year-2026-2027-you need to borrow more. Now it is after the last date of July 1, 2026. Therefore, both loans, including the educational year of 2024-2025, will be disqualified for the IBR.

• Or, maybe you have finished your undergrade in 2024 and already have federal loans. If you go back to school for a master’s degree in 2027 and get federal loans for it, he and the undergrade loan will be disqualified for both IBR.

In the last tax year, rap monthly payment is graduated based on your annual adjusted gross income (AGI). The more you earn, the bigger your income piece is that you will pay your students’ loans every month.

Once you pay your base, use this formula to calculate your monthly rap bill:

(Rap Base Payment / 12) – $ 50 = estimated monthly rap payment

If you have loans besides current parents, and you want to pay less payments based on income based on any opportunity in the future you should do the following:

These tricks will allow you to transfer to the IBR plan, so you can stay in the income -driven payment system unless you pay your debts. If you don’t, the standard payment plan will be your only option that is moving forward.

Any lenders who take loans on July 1, 2026, besides new parents, can only access the standard project – including any old parents, as well as loans. If you have a student who is currently in college, keep it in mind.

Lenders who borrow on or after July 1, 2026, have to choose a rap to benefit from public service loan waivers (PSLF). PSLF waived the remaining federal students ‘loans after 10 years of working for 10 years of public service jobs and paying students’ loans.

Although the rap still pays income, it has some significant differences with the current income -paying payment projects. For example:

Rap does not take into account inflation. Uses rap adjusted grass income (AGI) to calculate payments, while IDR plans use Discretionary income.

Distinguished income for IDR projects is the difference between your income and 100 %, 150 % or 225 % federal poverty line. In addition, the federal poverty line changes over time in response to inflation, so discretionary income – and payment of student loans – consequently change.

AGI Your income is minus some tax deduction, and even time not takes advantage of inflation. This means that it can be more difficult to manage rap payments in a long term.

Family size exemption changes. The IDR plan adjusts the family size based payments – which may include parents or other adults in your home. The rap calculation only considers children depending on.

No $ 0 payment Unlike revenue -powered payment plans, if you lose your job or have little income, you will never pay a monthly payment on rap. Your lowest payment is $ 10.

Rap is more expensive than saving all lenders. According to a recent analysis of non -profit lenders’ advocates and research group Student Borver Protection Center, lenders face more monthly payments on rap than safe. Introduced by the Biden Administration, Save was the most cheapest loan plan for the students.

The analysis has found that the ICR plan is the only current income -powered option that is permanently more expensive than rap.

If you are currently enrolled in one of the three revenue -powered, which are ending. Students Lone Sourcer By July 1, 2028, you will automatically move you to rap. Don’t go back.

You can avoid rap by signing up on the Income Payment (IBR) project Student Aid.gov/idr Before July 1, 2028 – very latest. Do not delay your IBR registration, as applications may take time to process, and the Department of Education can try to accelerate this deadline.

If you get enrolled in IBR, you can stick to the project unless you pay your loans. You still have the option of switching to the rap or the standard plan below the line.

Improved payment plans – Rap or IBR – depends on your income, overall financial situation, family size and student loans. Before choosing between rap and IBR, compare your estimated monthly payments, total payment costs and pardon timines under each plan.