PAYE Sunset & Transition Analysis Engine
Evaluate 10-year standard payment caps and grandfathering rules for existing PAYE borrowers.
Federal Student Loan Repayment & RAP Comparison Calculator
Deterministic Title IV repayment model comparing RAP, IBR, PAYE, ICR, and Tiered Standard.
Borrower Inputs
Aggregate outstanding principal balance across Direct Subsidized, Unsubsidized, and PLUS loans.
Line 11 on IRS Form 1040 representing annual household taxable earnings.
Statutory interest rate applicable to Title IV Direct Loans.
Borrower plus spouse and qualifying legal dependents.
HHS poverty baselines vary between Contiguous 48, Alaska, and Hawaii.
Monthly Repayment Obligations
Key Statutory Rule Summary (Title IV)
Under Title IV 34 CFR Part 685, the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) establishes monthly obligations at ten percent of discretionary income exceeding 225 percent of the HHS Poverty Guideline. RAP automatically waives all unpaid monthly interest through statutory subsidies, preventing negative amortization across undergraduate and graduate balances.
PAYE Sunset Mechanics and Existing Borrower Grandfathering Rights
The 2025-2026 Title IV regulatory restructuring formally sunsets new enrollment into Pay As You Earn (PAYE). However, statutory grandfathering clauses protect existing enrollees who maintain continuous recertification without administrative default.
Borrowers already enrolled in PAYE retain their ten percent discretionary income calculation and twenty-year forgiveness horizon. Crucially, grandfathered borrowers maintain access to the ten-year Standard payment cap, shielding high-trajectory professionals from escalating liabilities.
Exiting PAYE to enroll in the Repayment Assistance Plan is generally irrevocable. Borrowers must model whether the interest subsidy under RAP outweighs the forfeiture of PAYE payment caps as their professional compensation matures.
Statutory Authority & Provenance Citations
- Dataset 1: US Department of Education Title IV Repayment Regulations (34 CFR Part 685)
- Dataset 2: US Department of Health and Human Services Annual Poverty Guidelines (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))
Cryptographic SHA-256 provenance hashes verify mathematical fidelity across all federal calculations.