Here are some of my free online calculators to help you figure loan payments, calculate loan interest (accrued and monthly), estimate Pell awards or find out whether to consolidate school loans.
There are calculators for every phase of your education, right thru post-graduation.
Don't wait until you are in your grace period to find out what you owe and what your payments will be.
Calculate how much you will need to borrow to complete your degree, before you sign your first master promissory note.
Look at your total payment amounts and decide whether you want to pay a portion of your loans while in school, to save money later. The free online calculators can help you decide what's best for you, now and later.
All calculators on this site are client-side, not server-side. What does this mean to you? No one (including me) will have access to any information you enter. It is not transmitted from your computer to any other.
The headlines (below) allow you to access each financial aid calculator page.
This college loan calculator lets you see how much interest will accrue on a loan if your payments are deferred. The interest becomes capitalized (which means added to your principal) and will become part of your loan balance when you begin or resume payments.
Federal student loans are deferred while a student is enrolled at least half-time and during the grace period, unless the borrower makes other arrangements.
The interest payment calculator is used to find out the actual monthly amount you would pay for interest-only commercial loans (while in school).
It can also be used to find out if you can afford to pay just the monthly interest on your unsubsidized Stafford loans. (You would do this to avoid capitalized interest at repayment.)
The college loan repayment program calculator figures repayment amounts based on the standard schedule for Direct federal student loans. It uses 10 years as the term for the loan and equal payments for each month.
All other federal loan repayment plans use this one as their guide for payments. For instance, if you choose the income-based payment plan, your monthly payment formula will never exceed the amount shown by the standard payment calculator.
This college loan calculator is for loans that total over 30,000 and those borrowers who choose to make smaller payments each month. The payment plan extends the loan term to twenty-five years.
This plan can be also used for Direct PLUS loans and consolidated loans.
The student loan consolidation calculator figures out what your interest rate would be if you consolidated two or more federal loans. The federal formula uses a weighted average that may or may not benefit you.
Generally, it is best to consolidate your loans when you are within your grace period. Only loans that bear your name as the borrower may be consolidated together. (For instance, parent college loans may not be consolidated with their childrens' loans.)
The Direct loans consolidation calculator should be used by students with FFELP loans who wish to consolidate into the Direct loans program from July 1, 2010- July 1, 2011. For this year only, students who are still enrolled may consolidate at a discounted rate.
After July 1, 2011, these loans may be consolidated with Direct loans once students are no longer enrolled at least half-time, and the usual rate will apply.
Of all my free online calculators, the Pell grant estimator is the most popular. As long as you've completed the FAFSA and have your EFC number, you will be able to check and compare amounts at different schools as well as for different types of enrollment.
If you do not know your EFC, but can either estimate it or work it out with the official formula that applies to you, you can still get an idea of where and how to get the largest award possible.
Did you know that each college is required by law* to have a net price calculator on their website?
A net price calculator shows the average yearly price charged to full-time, first-time undergraduates after their grant aid is subtracted. So students and families can judge actual college costs, instead of just sticker prices.
