Student loans under the 2026 rules

As of July 1, 2026 the federal menu changed: new borrowers get the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) and a tiered standard plan, SAVE is being wound down, and legacy IBR remains for existing borrowers. One call compares standard, RAP, and IBR side by side — initial payment, payoff-or-forgiveness, and the PSLF track.

1 · Make the call

Send the balance, rate, and the borrower's income picture to /v1/education/student-loan. Here: $60,000 at 6.5%, AGI $55,000, family of two, pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

curl -X POST https://api.numeratica.com/v1/education/student-loan \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer nmr_sk_test_xxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "loan_balance": 60000,
    "interest_rate": 0.065,
    "agi": 55000,
    "family_size": 2,
    "dependents": 1,
    "pursuing_pslf": true
  }'

2 · The response

Each plan comes back with its initial monthly payment and its ending: payoff (standard) or forgiveness (the income-driven plans). RAP payments are a flat percentage of AGI with an interest waiver and a $50/month principal match; IBR is 10%/15% of discretionary income above the HHS poverty guideline.

{
  "result_id": "studentloan_165e61b93b39f033",
  "engine_version": "student-loan-1.0.0",
  "result": {
    "standard": { "monthly_payment": 681.29, "total_paid": 81754.54,
                  "total_interest": 21754.54, "months": 120 },
    "rap":      { "initial_monthly_payment": 179.17, "total_paid": 64500.00,
                  "forgiven": true, "forgiven_balance": 42000, "forgiveness_months": 360 },
    "ibr":      { "initial_monthly_payment": 187.83, "total_paid": 45080.00,
                  "forgiven": true, "forgiven_balance": 92920.00, "forgiveness_months": 240 },
    "ibr_rate": 0.1,
    "ibr_discretionary_income": 22540,
    "poverty_guideline": 21640,
    "pslf": { "months": 120,
              "rap_total_paid": 21500.00, "rap_forgiven": 54000,
              "ibr_total_paid": 22540.00, "ibr_forgiven": 76460.00 },
    "lowest_initial_payment": "rap"
  },
  "disclaimer": "Calculation engine output for informational purposes only; not financial advice. Repayment-plan rules change; verify with your servicer."
}

The standard plan costs $681/month; RAP starts at $179 and IBR at $188. The endings differ sharply: RAP runs 30 years before forgiving $42,000, IBR forgives $92,920 at 20 years (unpaid IDR interest accrues simple, without capitalizing) — and on the PSLF track this public-service borrower pays just $21,500 over 120 RAP payments and has $54,000 forgiven tax-free. The poverty-guideline and plan parameters are kept-current, sourced data.

3 · Render it

A plan-comparison card — self-contained inline HTML, no chart library, no build step.

<div style="font-family:-apple-system,Segoe UI,Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#1a2230;max-width:600px">
  <div style="font-size:14px;color:#5b6675;margin-bottom:8px">$60,000 at 6.5% · AGI $55,000 · family of 2 · PSLF track (2026 rules)</div>
  <div style="display:grid;grid-template-columns:1fr 1fr 1fr;gap:10px">
    <div style="border:1px solid #e6e9ef;border-radius:10px;padding:12px">
      <div style="font-size:12px;color:#5b6675">Standard (10-yr)</div>
      <div style="font-size:22px;font-weight:700">$681<span style="font-size:12px;font-weight:400;color:#5b6675">/mo</span></div>
      <div style="font-size:12px;color:#5b6675;margin-top:4px">Paid off in 2036 · $81,755 total</div>
    </div>
    <div style="border:2px solid #1d4ed8;border-radius:10px;padding:12px">
      <div style="font-size:12px;color:#1d4ed8;font-weight:600">RAP · lowest payment</div>
      <div style="font-size:22px;font-weight:700">$179<span style="font-size:12px;font-weight:400;color:#5b6675">/mo</span></div>
      <div style="font-size:12px;color:#5b6675;margin-top:4px">$42,000 forgiven at 30 yr</div>
    </div>
    <div style="border:1px solid #e6e9ef;border-radius:10px;padding:12px">
      <div style="font-size:12px;color:#5b6675">IBR (legacy)</div>
      <div style="font-size:22px;font-weight:700">$188<span style="font-size:12px;font-weight:400;color:#5b6675">/mo</span></div>
      <div style="font-size:12px;color:#5b6675;margin-top:4px">$92,920 forgiven at 20 yr</div>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div style="margin-top:10px;border:1px solid #16a34a;background:#f0fdf4;border-radius:10px;padding:12px">
    <div style="font-size:12px;color:#16a34a;font-weight:600">PSLF · 120 qualifying payments</div>
    <div style="font-size:14px;margin-top:2px">On RAP: pay <strong>$21,500</strong> over 10 years, <strong>$54,000 forgiven tax-free</strong></div>
  </div>
  <div style="color:#5b6675;font-size:12px;margin-top:6px">result_id studentloan_165e61b93b39f033 · plan rules verified against current law · not financial advice</div>
</div>

Part of the college journey: start with paying for college (529 sizing + the FAFSA aid estimate), and pair borrower income planning with the marginal-rate map. Weighing a private refinance against these federal protections is /v1/education/student-loan-refi's question — it prices the breakeven including what forgiveness you'd give up.

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