Student Loan Refinance Calculator
for fixed and variable Rates

Instantly compare your current loan mix to a new refi offer — including fixed and variable rate scenarios.

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    Student Loan Refi Reality Check
    🎓 Student Loan Refi Reality Check

    Will refinancing actually save you money?

    Add each of your student loans below. We’ll blend them into a single snapshot (Current Weighted Total) and compare that to a private refi quote so you can see the tradeoffs in plain English.

    📊 Your Existing Loans

    Loan Name Balance ($) Interest Rate (%) Rate Type Years Remaining Your Current Monthly Payment (optional)

    “Years Remaining” should be your best guess for that specific loan. The optional payment column is just for you — the calculator uses the balance, rate, and term to estimate payments and interest.

    📈 Current Weighted Total

    This is the combined loan pic we use for the refi comparison.

    Example: enter 2.0 to test what happens if all your variable-rate loans move up by 2.0%. Fixed loans stay the same.

    Metric Current Weighted Total High-Rate Stress (+1.0% on variable loans) Low-Rate Stress (-1.0% on variable loans) Custom Stress (your % on variable loans)
    Total Combined Balance $0.00
    Weighted Avg. Interest Rate 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
    Estimated Monthly Payment* (all current loans) $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

    *We calculate a blended interest rate across all loans and use each loan’s own remaining term to estimate one combined monthly payment. This becomes your “current baseline” for the refinancing comparison below.

    ⚠️ Note on Variable Rates: The “High/Low” scenarios only adjust loans you’ve marked as Variable by +1.0% and –1.0%, keeping fixed loans unchanged. The custom stress scenario uses the % you enter above. This is a simple “what if rates move?” stress test — not a market prediction.

    🔁 Refinancing Quote Comparison

    Choose which scenario you want to compare your refi offer against.

    We treat refinancing quotes as fixed-rate offers, since most private lenders quote fixed rates. If your offer is variable, still enter the rate — this calculator doesn’t model future rate changes on refi quotes.

    Potential Refinancing Impact

    Current Combined Monthly Payment (based on selected scenario) $0.00
    New Estimated Monthly Payment (refi) $0.00
    Estimated Monthly Difference +$0.00
    Estimated Lifetime Interest Difference* $0.00

    *We estimate total interest on your current loans using the scenario you selected above, and compare it to the refi’s total interest using the new rate and term. It’s directional — not a precise payoff calendar.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    How does this loan payoff calculator work?

    This calculator takes each of your student loans — with their own balances, rates, variable/fixed types, and remaining terms — and builds a single blended snapshot of your overall debt. That snapshot is called your Current Weighted Total, and it represents what your entire loan portfolio looks like as if it were one single loan.

    Here’s what happens behind the scenes:

    1. Per-loan modeling

    Each loan is calculated independently using standard amortization formulas — the exact math lenders use.
    For each loan, the calculator determines:

    • its remaining monthly payment

    • total remaining interest

    • its contribution to your weighted average interest rate

    • how sensitive it is to interest rate movement (if variable)

    Fixed loans stay fixed.
    Variable loans can move.

    2. The blended loan snapshot

    All loans are combined into one unified baseline:

    • Total combined balance

    • Weighted average interest rate

    • Estimated monthly payment across all loans

    • Projected lifetime interest

    This becomes your Current Weighted Total — the one-number snapshot you can directly compare against a refinancing quote.

    3. Stress-testing variable-rate movement

    If any loans are variable, the calculator automatically creates:

    • High-Rate Stress: +1.0% added only to your variable-rate loans

    • Low-Rate Stress: –1.0% applied only to your variable-rate loans

    • Custom Stress Shift: whatever % you enter (e.g., enter 2.0 to test a +2% jump)

    Fixed loans do not change.
    Only variable loans shift.

    This helps you see how interest-rate movement could affect your blended rate and total payments.

    4. Flexible refinance comparison (baseline or stress-tested)

    When you enter a refinancing offer, you can choose which scenario to compare it against:

    • Current Weighted Total (baseline)

    • High-Rate Stress

    • Low-Rate Stress

    • Your Custom Stress scenario

    Whichever scenario you select becomes the baseline for calculating:

    • the new estimated refi monthly payment

    • the monthly difference

    • total projected lifetime interest vs. your chosen scenario

    This gives you control over how conservative or optimistic the comparison should be.

    5. “Directionally accurate,” not a loan contract

    The math itself is accurate — amortization formulas, weighted averages, balance-based contributions — but a few things are intentionally simplified:

    • future interest-rate movement isn’t predicted

    • lender fees or discounts aren’t included

    • payoff timing isn’t displayed on a calendar

    • daily compounding differences aren’t modeled

    The purpose: to give you a clear, realistic cost comparison — not to replace lender disclosures.

    Refinancing means taking out one new loan to pay off your existing student loans.
    The goal is usually to:

    • get a lower interest rate

    • reduce monthly payments

    • or shorten the payoff timeline

    When you refinance, your new lender pays off your old loans, and you make payments only to the new lender under the new rate and term.

    Refinancing only applies to private loans or federal loans you’re willing to convert into a private loan (which means losing federal protections).

    Your Current Weighted Total is the calculator’s way of turning all your individual loans into one blended snapshot.

    It combines:

    • total balance

    • weighted average interest rate

    • total estimated monthly payment

    • total remaining lifetime interest (based on each loan’s remaining term)

    It’s essentially your “all loans together” baseline, used to compare against a potential refinance offer.

    This shows whether a refi actually saves money — or just looks good on the surface.

    Every loan has an interest rate type:

    Fixed Rate

    • stays the same for the entire life of the loan

    • predictable monthly payment

    • no surprises

    Variable Rate

    • starts lower

    • can change based on market indexes

    • your rate can go up or down

    • monthly payments can increase unexpectedly

    This calculator treats variable loans separately so you can see potential rate movement. To learn more, check out this article. 

    Variable-rate loans can change over time. A “stress test” models how your payments would react if the rate:

    • went up by +1% (High-Rate Stress)

    • went down by −1% (Low-Rate Stress)

    It’s not a prediction — it’s a “what if?” calculator that shows how sensitive your payments are to rate movement.

    Yes. Variable rates can absolutely move by more than 1%. Therefore, proceed with caution. 

    The +1% and –1% stress tests in this calculator are just quick sensitivity checks, not limits.
    In the real world, variable student loan rates follow reference indexes (like SOFR or Prime). When those indexes move — especially during periods of rapid Fed rate changes — rates can rise (or fall) by more than 1% over time.

    We used +1% and –1% because they reflect the typical size of rate movements seen historically in major index-based student loan benchmarks (like SOFR and Prime). Over the past decade, these indexes have often moved in 0.25% to 1.00% steps, especially when the Federal Reserve adjusts rates.

    For this reason, a ±1% shift is a realistic, historically grounded scenario that shows how a variable loan might react during normal rate cycles—big enough to matter, but still common enough to be meaningful.

    It’s not a prediction—just a simple sensitivity check based on how rates have moved in the real world.

    Here’s the honest truth:

    Variable rates look attractive at first because they start low.
    But the risks are real – for instance:

         ❌ payments can spike unexpectedly

         ❌ total cost is unpredictable

         ❌ you’re exposed to market volatility

         ❌ you can get trapped if rates rise faster than expected

    Most people do NOT budget for rising payments — that’s why variable loans feel safe…until they aren’t.

    This is why your calculator highlights the stress-test scenarios.

    Important Disclaimer:
    This calculator is a helpful estimation tool, not a substitute for your lender’s official disclosures or amortization schedules. While it uses standard amortization formulas and models each loan’s rate, term, and variable-rate sensitivity, its results are directional only.

    The calculator does provide:

    • mathematically accurate payment estimates based on standard amortization

    • blended weighted-average rate calculations

    • per-loan term modeling

    • lifetime interest comparisons

    • fixed- and variable-rate stress testing

    But it does NOT:

    • predict future interest-rate movements

    • include lender fees, rate discounts, or penalties

    • replicate daily interest accrual methods used by servicers

    • guarantee precision identical to lender systems

    • provide financial, tax, or legal advice

    Results should be considered informational, not definitive.
    Ultimately, you should always review your lender’s official loan estimate, truth-in-lending disclosures, and payoff schedules before making refinancing decisions.

    Please be sure to also check out some of our other calculators – Student Loan Repayment Calculator and Advanced Extra Payment Calculator. 

    Here is what happens: 

    • Your new lender pays off your old loans.

    • Your old loans close.

    • A brand-new loan opens in your name.

    • Your credit report will show:

      • the old accounts as closed

      • the new account as opened

    • This can temporarily impact your credit score because:

      • you added a new credit account

      • your average age of accounts went down

      • there’s a temporary hard credit inquiry (yes, this hurts a little)

    But over time:

    • on-time payments

    • stable balance

    • and a lower rate

    can actually improve your credit health.

    Yes — and this is important.

    If you refinance a federal loan into a private loan, you give up:

    To sum it up, this is why borrowers should be sure refinancing is worth it before giving up benefits.

    It depends on:

    • your new rate vs current weighted rate

    • your remaining terms

    • whether you extend or shorten the payoff timeline

    • whether your federal protections are valuable to you

    The calculator arms you with the blended baseline you need to decide.

    Because monthly savings alone are misleading.

    A refi that lowers your monthly payment can still:

    • cost more in interest

    • extend your payoff by years

    • delay debt freedom

    Lifetime interest = the real cost of borrowing.

    Most private refi lenders quote fixed rates, which is why the tool treats refi as fixed.

    If your refi quote is variable:

    • enter the rate

    • but understand the tool does not model future rate movement for refi quotes

    • and variable refi rates can increase more than you expect

    You can still use the calculator to compare your baseline, but proceed carefully.

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