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The new Repayment Assistance Plan vs. the old student loan plans, compared

RAP charges 1% to 10% of income, with a $10 minimum and forgiveness at 30 years. See how it compares with IBR, PAYE, ICR and SAVE

Pang Yuhao / Unsplash

Federal student loan repayment looks different this fall than it did a year ago. A court order ended the SAVE plan in March, the Repayment Assistance Plan, known as RAP, opened for enrollment on July 1, and borrowers with older loans now have to choose between plans that remain and plans that are on a clock to disappear.

The terms below come from the pages Federal Student Aid's loan servicers publish for each plan, including Edfinancial Services' RAP page. The July 1, 2028 end dates for PAYE and ICR come from analyses of the 2025 law that created RAP. The seven slides cover how RAP works, how it compares with IBR, SAVE, PAYE and ICR, what decides which plan costs less and the deadlines that matter.

Towfiqu barbhuiya / Unsplash

RAP sets your payment as a percentage of your adjusted gross income, from 1% to 10%, then divides it by 12. Income up to $10,000 pays a flat $120 a year, or $10 a month. Each additional $10,000 of income up to $100,000 raises the rate by one percentage point, and income above $100,000 pays 10%. Each dependent you claim on your tax return reduces the monthly payment by $50, but it can't fall below $10.

By that formula, $30,000 in income falls in the 2% bracket, or $50 a month, $60,000 falls in the 5% bracket, or $250 a month, and $120,000 pays 10%, or $1,000 a month, all before any dependent........

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