There is no point reaching for a calculator that cannot show its working. This one starts from interest rate, loan balance and remaining term and reports total interest paid, interest percentage and total amount paid, so you can see how each answer follows from the numbers you entered.
What Is the Student Loan Calculator?
The student loan calculator takes interest rate, loan balance and remaining term and turns them into total interest paid, interest percentage and total amount paid.
It is the kind of calculation you would otherwise do on the back of an envelope: mechanical, repeatable and easy to get subtly wrong without noticing.
How the Student Loan Figure Is Built
Each result is calculated from the ones before it, so the working is fully visible. That matters when the answer is going to be quoted to somebody else and you need to be able to explain where it came from.
The figures are exactly as good as the assumptions underneath them. Check the rates, the periods and the tax treatment before you rely on the result.
Reading the Result Sensibly
A small change in an input can move the result by much more than you would expect, particularly where the calculation divides by one of the figures you supplied. That is worth understanding before you rely on a figure.
For anything that will be committed to, write the inputs down beside the result. A number you can reproduce is worth far more than one you cannot explain.
A Worked Example
Working through an example, with interest rate set to 10, loan balance set to 5, remaining term set to 2, the calculator returns monthly payment of 5.93, and total interest paid of 6.86, and total amount paid of 11.86. Substitute your own figures and the same steps produce the same kind of answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I need to work out total interest paid?
Enter interest rate, loan balance and remaining term. The calculator then works through the relationship and reports total interest paid, interest percentage and total amount paid.
What does the student loan actually calculate?
It takes interest rate, loan balance and remaining term and converts them into total interest paid, interest percentage and total amount paid using the standard relationship for this problem. Each step is applied in turn, so every output is traceable back to the numbers you typed in.
How should I enter interest rate?
Use the value you actually have, in the unit shown next to the field. Enter every value in the same unit system. The calculator assumes the figures you supply are consistent, so it cannot correct a mistake that happens before the calculation starts.
Can I use this for a quick estimate as well as a precise answer?
Yes. The calculator is built for quick checks, so round your inputs to a sensible number of significant figures and the result will be just as useful. If you need more precision, keep the same method and add digits to the inputs rather than adjusting the method itself.
Do I have to fill in every field?
Only the fields a particular result depends on. If you leave one blank, the results that need it simply show a note instead of a number, and everything else still works.