Planning & budgeting calculator

This worksheet will help you estimate your college expenses and help you balance your college budget. If you find that you may need to borrow money to help pay for college, never borrow more than you need or can afford to pay back after you finish school. Estimating College Expenses School Costs Tuition Books Living Costs Food, rent, utilities Entertainment/other Transportation Bus/train, auto (gas, parking, etc.), travel home Insurance Home/apt., auto, health Loan Payments Mortgage, auto, other Credit Cards College Expenses Estimating A Balanced College Budget College Expenses Sources Of Money Savings Work Grants/Scholarships Other Sources Total Amount Needed from Student Loans Estimating Borrowing & Repayment of Student Loans Click here for borrowing limits. Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior Graduate School Total Amount Borrowed Estimated Monthly Payments This Loan Payment Calculator computes an estimate of the size of your monthly loan payments. This calculator assumes that the interest rate remains the same throughout the life of the loan. However, many education loan programs, including the Private, Stafford and PLUS loans, have variable interest rates. We suggest you use the current maximum rates (8.25% for Stafford and 9% for PLUS) to calculate the interest payments. (Perkins loans have a fixed interest rate of 5%.) This calculator also assumes that the loan will be repaid in equal monthly installments. The results will not be accurate for some of the alternate repayment plans, such as graduated repayment and income sensitive repayment. Some educational loans have a minimum monthly payment. Please enter the appropriate figure (e.g., $50 for Stafford Loans and PLUS Loans, and $40 for Perkins Loans, etc.) in the minimum payment field. Enter a higher figure to see how much money you can save by paying off your debt faster.