Student Loan Refinance Savings Calculator
See the interest a refinance saves over the life of the loan and the new payment, then put that number on a scale against what refinancing federal loans takes away: income-driven repayment, PSLF, deferment. Private loans get a clean answer. Mixed portfolios get the refi-private, keep-federal hybrid. Free, no signup.
Last reviewed: September 2026 Β· Uses RAP (open since July 1, 2026), IBR, and the 2026 HHS poverty guidelines
Private loans at 8.5% β 5.9% fixed. Nothing to forfeit, so it is a clean savings win.
You save $9,696 with nothing to forfeit: private loans carry no federal protections.
Savings vs protections
Private loans: nothing on the right pan, so the savings stand on their own.
Term trade-off: rate effect vs term effect
Your payment changes β$81/mo, all of it from the rate. The payoff date doesn't move, so every dollar of the $9,696 is a pure rate win.
Today's dollars discounts both payment streams at what your spare cash could earn. A stretched term looks cheaper here than in total interest, but only if you actually invest the monthly difference.
Cumulative cost: keep vs refinance
Keep current: $89,270 paid. Refinance: $79,574.
How the Student Loan Refinance Savings Calculator Works
Two loans go in. The first is what you owe today: balance, weighted-average rate, and months left. The second is the offer: rate, term, fixed or variable, and any origination fee. Both are amortized to the last payment, and the interest left on your current loans is compared with the interest the new loan would charge. That gap, less the fee, is the green number at the top of the tool, and it can turn red when a longer term costs more than the lower rate saves.
Run the default Private High-Rate preset and you get $60,000 at 8.5% with 10 years left, refinanced to 5.9% fixed over the same 10 years. The payment falls from $743.91 to $663.11 and the remaining interest from $29,270 to $19,574, so your student loan refinance interest savings come to $9,696. Because those loans are private, nothing sits on the other side of the scale. Switch the loan type to Federal and the same quote has to outweigh an estimate of the protections you would give up.
Is Refinancing Your Student Loans Worth It?
With private loans, the question is mostly arithmetic: a lower rate you can actually qualify for, little or no fee, and a term that doesn't stretch your payoff date. Private loans come with no income-driven plan and no PSLF, so there is nothing to forfeit. Federal loans are different, and a should I refinance my student loans calculator that only shows savings answers half the question.
The verdict here follows three rules. When the estimated protections are worth at least as much as the savings, it says keep your federal loans. When they eat more than 75% of the savings, it calls the refi marginal. Otherwise it says refinance. The Federal preset shows the first rule at work: $45,000 at 6% refinanced to 5.5% saves $1,347 over 10 years, while a year of RAP safety net on that balance is priced at $2,700. Any honest is refinancing student loans worth it calculator has to put those two numbers side by side.
Federal vs Private Student Loan Refinance: What You Give Up
A refinance pays off your federal loans with a new private one, and the CFPB is blunt that the move is permanent. What you lose: income-driven repayment (RAP and IBR), Public Service Loan Forgiveness, unemployment and economic-hardship deferment of up to 3 years each, general forbearance granted 12 months at a time up to 3 years, and discharge on death or total and permanent disability, which the 2025 budget law made permanently tax-free. Private lenders set their own forbearance terms, often much shorter. For federal loans made on or after July 1, 2027 both deferments disappear and forbearance shrinks to 9 months in any 24, so newer loans carry thinner protection.
Two of those protections get dollar estimates, and the rest are listed instead of guessed at. With the PSLF toggle on, it works as a student loan refinance calculator with forgiveness built in. On the PSLF preset ($80,000 at 6.5%, 84 of 120 payments made, $55,000 of income), 36 more RAP payments of $229.17 total $8,250, and because RAP matches $50 of principal each month, about $78,200 is then forgiven tax-free. Paying the same loan off on its 15-year schedule would cost $125,439. That is what you lose refinancing federal student loans when you are on a forgiveness track, and no rate cut comes close.
Student Loan Refinance vs Income-Driven Repayment
The income-driven landscape changed in 2026. SAVE is gone. The Repayment Assistance Plan created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act opened on July 1, 2026 and charges 1% of adjusted gross income between $10,001 and $20,000, rising a point per $10,000 to 10% above $100,000, minus $50 a month per dependent, with a $10 minimum. On-time payments get the unpaid interest waived and up to $50 of principal matched. IBR remains for existing borrowers at 10% of income above 150% of the poverty guideline (15% if you first borrowed before July 2014), and the 2026 guideline is $15,960 plus $5,680 per extra household member.
That floor is what a private refinance gives up. If your income stopped, RAP would bill $10 a month and waive the rest of the interest; a private forbearance, where one is offered at all, lets interest pile up. The calculator prices that difference as months of interest over an income-loss window you choose (12 by default). On $45,000 at 6% that is $225 a month, or $2,700 a year. The same borrower earning $42,000 with one dependent would owe $90 a month on RAP today, against $499.59 on the standard schedule. To beat that safety net on savings alone, the refi rate has to reach about 4.99%.
How Much Can I Save Refinancing Student Loans?
The rate-drop strip reruns your numbers at 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, and 3 points below your current rate and pins your actual quote with a YOU ARE HERE marker. On the $60,000, 8.5%, 10-year example, a half-point cut to 8% saves $1,914, one point saves $3,804, two points save $7,515, and three points save $11,131. Each half point is worth a bit less than the last because there is less interest left to cut.
Time left matters as much as the rate. The Keep-Payoff-Date preset refinances $35,000 at 8% with only 6 years to go into 5.75% and saves $2,717, because most of the interest on that loan has already been paid. If your goal is to refinance student loans to lower interest rate costs by a set amount, the reverse calculator works backward: to save $10,000 on the $60,000 example you would need a rate at or below 5.82%.
Fixed vs Variable Student Loan Refinance
Lender rate tables, Credible's among them, generally start variable rates below fixed ones, so the headline number on a refi ad is usually the variable one. The Variable-Rate Temptation preset puts a 5.4% variable quote next to a 5.9% fixed quote on $55,000 at 7% with 10 years left. If the variable rate never moved it would save $5,331. Averaging one point higher, it still saves $2,025.
Averaging two points higher, it costs $1,368 more than keeping the 7% loan; three points higher, $4,846 more. The fixed quote saves a guaranteed $3,689. The strip treats each column as the average rate over the whole loan, which is a simplification: real variable loans reset with an index and some carry a cap. A variable rate makes the most sense when you plan to pay the balance off fast, before a rise can compound.
Will Refinancing Lower Your Payment Without Costing More Interest?
A refi lowers the payment in two ways at once, and only one of them saves money. On the Keep-Payoff-Date preset, a fresh 10-year loan at 5.75% cuts the payment on $35,000 by $229.47 a month. Of that, $37.73 comes from the lower rate and $191.74 from stretching 6 years into 10. The rate effect saves $2,717 of interest; the term effect adds $4,636, so the lower payment ends up costing $1,919 more in total.
Showing both halves is the test any student loan refinance lower payment calculator should pass. The term trade-off panel splits them and adds a keep-my-payoff-date button that removes the stretch. It also reports the result in today's dollars at an opportunity rate you set (5% by default): same-term, the refi is worth $2,351 now; stretched, $1,818. At that rate the stretch costs about $533 in present value rather than $4,636, but only if you actually invest the $191.74 a month it frees up.
Student Loan Refinance Break-Even and Fees
Most student loan refinance lenders charge no origination fee (NerdWallet lists SoFi and LendKey among them, and Credible's partner lenders as well), so the typical break-even is the first payment. When a quote does carry a fee, the quick math is fee divided by monthly savings: $300 against the $80.80 saved on the default preset is 3.7 months.
The calculator also counts month by month, adding the payments you have saved to the gap between the two balances, and on that loan you are ahead at month 3 because the lower rate retires principal faster from day one. The two methods split further when the term changes. A stretched term lowers the payment partly by paying principal slower, and a shorter term can raise the payment while still reaching a student loan refinance break even point, since its balance falls faster than the old loan's.
Refinancing Only Your Private Loans (Keep the Federal Ones)
Lender calculators quote on whatever balance you type in, which nudges borrowers toward refinancing everything. The Mixed preset splits it: $40,000 of private loans at 9% and $50,000 of federal loans at 6%, 10 years left, and a 5.9% offer. Refinancing just the private part moves that payment from $506.70 to $442.08 and saves $7,755 while the federal loans keep every protection.
Folding the federal $50,000 in at the same 5.9% would save only $301 more, against $3,000 of RAP safety net (twelve months of $250 interest), so the balance scale tips hard toward keeping them. The federal loans would need a rate at or below 4.99% before folding them in paid on savings alone. Use Mixed mode as a refinance private student loans calculator: private balance and rate up top, federal balance and rate below, and only the private part gets refinanced.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much can I save by refinancing my student loans?
It depends on the rate drop, the balance, and how much time is left. Refinance $60,000 of private loans at 8.5% with 10 years to go into 5.9% fixed over the same 10 years and total interest falls from $29,270 to $19,574, a $9,696 saving, while the payment drops $80.80 a month. On that same loan a half-point cut is worth about $1,914 and a three-point cut about $11,131. Fewer years left means less interest to save.
Is refinancing student loans worth it?
For private loans it usually is when you qualify for a meaningfully lower fixed rate and keep your payoff date, because private loans carry no federal protections to give up. For federal loans the savings have to beat what you forfeit. Take $45,000 at 6% refinanced to 5.5%: it saves $1,347 over 10 years, but a single year of RAP safety net on that balance is priced at $2,700, so the verdict is to keep the federal loans.
What do you lose when you refinance federal student loans?
Everything that comes with a federal loan, permanently. You lose income-driven repayment (RAP charges as little as $10 a month and waives unpaid interest), Public Service Loan Forgiveness after 120 qualifying payments, unemployment and economic-hardship deferment of up to 3 years each, general forbearance of 12 months at a time up to 3 years, and discharge if you die or become totally and permanently disabled. Private lenders set their own forbearance rules, and the CFPB notes a refinance into a private loan cannot be reversed.
Does refinancing federal student loans lose forgiveness?
Yes. A private loan is not eligible for PSLF or for income-driven forgiveness, and there is no way back. The PSLF preset shows the stakes: $80,000 at 6.5% with 84 of 120 payments made and $55,000 of income. Staying on RAP means 36 more payments of $229.17, or $8,250, and then about $78,200 is forgiven tax-free. Refinancing to 5.5% saves $7,779 against the standard schedule, which leaves you roughly $109,410 worse off than finishing PSLF.
Should I refinance federal student loans to private?
Only with stable income, a real emergency fund, no plan to work in public service, and a rate drop large enough to beat the protections. For $45,000 at 6% with 10 years left, the reverse calculator puts that bar at about 4.99%: below it, the interest saved exceeds a year of RAP safety net; above it, it does not. Keep in mind that income-driven forgiveness granted after 2025 is taxable again, while PSLF forgiveness stays tax-free.
What's the difference between a fixed and variable student loan refinance?
A fixed rate is locked for the life of the loan; a variable rate resets with a market index, which is why the lowest advertised refi rates are usually variable. On $55,000 at 7% with 10 years left, a 5.4% variable rate saves $5,331 if it never moves and still saves $2,025 if it averages a point higher. Average two points higher and it costs $1,368 more than keeping your loan. The 5.9% fixed quote saves a guaranteed $3,689.
How do I calculate the break-even on a student loan refinance?
Divide any origination fee by the monthly payment savings. A $300 fee on a refi that cuts the payment by $80.80 pays back in 3.7 months by that formula. The calculator also runs a month-by-month check that counts how fast each loan retires principal, and on that loan you are ahead by month 3. Most refinance lenders charge no origination fee, in which case you are ahead from the first payment.
Can I refinance only my private student loans and keep my federal ones?
Yes, and it is often the best of both. Most lenders let you choose which loans to refinance. With $40,000 of private loans at 9% and $50,000 of federal loans at 6%, refinancing only the private part at 5.9% saves $7,755. Folding the federal loans in at the same rate would save just $301 more while giving up about $3,000 of RAP safety net. Mixed mode runs exactly that comparison.
Will refinancing lower my monthly student loan payment?
Usually, through a lower rate, a longer term, or both, and the difference matters. Refinance $35,000 at 8% with 6 years left into a fresh 10-year loan at 5.75% and the payment falls $229.47, but you pay $1,919 more interest in total. Keep the 6-year payoff date at the same rate and the payment falls only $37.73, yet you save $2,717. The term trade-off panel splits every payment drop into those two parts.
What credit score do I need to refinance student loans?
Most lenders look for a score around 670, a few accept 650, and the lowest advertised rates generally go to scores of 740 or higher. Debt-to-income matters too: lenders commonly want it under 50%, with the best terms under roughly 35% to 40%. A creditworthy cosigner can get a thin-file borrower approved. The calculator withholds its refinance advice when your score is under 650 or your DTI is over 50%.