Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) Explained

The Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) is the federal government’s new income-driven plan for the post-SAVE era. Federal Student Aid and federal loan servicers on studentaid.gov hosts published full payment tables in 2026. This guide walks through how RAP works, who can use it, and where official sources disagree so you are not surprised at recertification.

Why RAP exists now

SAVE ended in March 2026 after a court order, as Federal Student Aid describes in its SAVE FAQ. Starting July 1, 2026, new rules also changed which plans fit which loans. If all of your federal student loans were first disbursed on or after July 1, 2026, RAP is the only income-driven repayment plan available. Older plans such as IBR remain in the mix only when you still hold loans disbursed before that date.

RAP is not a private product and not something you buy from a debt-relief company. You apply through the same federal income-driven process on StudentAid.gov.

How RAP calculates your payment

Verified pieces from Edfinancial’s RAP page, the CRI RAP FAQ, and Federal Student Aid’s IDR FAQ (checked November 12, 2026) include:

AGI brackets

Payments use prior-year adjusted gross income (AGI):

• AGI of 10,000 dollars or less: 10 dollars per month (120 dollars per year).
• Above that, the percentage rises by 1 percentage point for each 10,000 dollar increment of AGI, up to 10 percent for AGI above 100,000 dollars.
• The monthly payment is never more than 10 percent of AGI in these published tables.

Dependent reduction

Subtract 50 dollars per month for each dependent claimed on your federal tax return.

Payment floor

The monthly payment cannot fall below 10 dollars.

Forgiveness timing

Remaining balance may be forgiven after 30 years (360 qualifying payments), subject to federal rules and possible federal tax on discharges on or after January 1, 2026, as Federal Student Aid’s IDR FAQ notes.

Interest help

If your on-time payment does not cover monthly interest, unpaid interest may be subsidized after the payment posts. If a full on-time payment does not reduce principal by at least 50 dollars, the Department may apply a matching principal payment of up to 50 dollars so principal still drops. Servicer pages describe these features in plain language; confirm details on your own statement.

Exact AGI boundaries: read this before you argue with your servicer

Edfinancial’s published table treats each bracket as upper inclusive. Example: “more than 10,000 and not more than 20,000” uses 1 percent of AGI, so AGI of exactly 20,000 dollars would be in the 1 percent band under that table.

The CRI RAP FAQ table uses slightly different wording. It lists amounts such as “20,000 to 29,999” at 2 percent, which would put AGI of exactly 20,000 dollars in the 2 percent band.

Sources disagree at exact AGI bounds; this site follows Edfinancial upper-inclusive brackets in the repayment plan estimator. The dollar difference at a single boundary is usually small, but you should not assume every official PDF agrees on the same line.

Who is eligible for RAP

RAP is available for most Direct Loans, including loans disbursed before July 1, 2026, unless another rule blocks you. Key exclusions Federal Student Aid and servicers agree on:

• Parent PLUS loans are not eligible.
• Direct Consolidation Loans that repaid a Parent PLUS loan are not eligible, even if you consolidated other loans with them.

If you only have post-2026 Direct Loans and you are not in a Parent PLUS situation, RAP is your IDR plan. Use plan eligibility to double-check edge cases.

RAP and Public Service Loan Forgiveness

RAP payments can count toward PSLF, per Federal Student Aid’s October 2026 IDR materials summarized in our rule audit. That matters if you work for a qualifying employer and you were worried that only SAVE or IBR counted.

By contrast, payments on the Tiered Standard Plan do not count toward PSLF. If you work in public service, do not pick Tiered Standard just because the fixed payment looks neat.

RAP vs other plans you still hear about

Question	RAP	IBR	Tiered Standard
Income-driven?	Yes, from AGI	Yes, from discretionary income	No, fixed payment
Post-2026 only loans	Only IDR option if all loans post 7/1/2026	Not if all loans post 7/1/2026	Available with at least one post 7/1/2026 loan
PSLF qualifying?	Yes	Yes	No
Forgiveness term	30 years	20 or 25 years (IBR rules)	Balance paid over 10 to 25 years by tier

IBR still uses 150 percent of poverty for discretionary income and 10 or 15 percent of that amount depending on when you borrowed. See the side-by-side guide RAP vs IBR vs Tiered Standard.

Legacy PAYE and ICR end no later than July 1, 2028 (explainer). Do not plan your life around staying on those plans forever.

When RAP might not be your best fit

RAP is built for manageable payments tied to income, not for minimizing total interest. Consider another federal plan if:

• You want a predictable fixed payment and you do not need PSLF (Tiered Standard might fit, with eyes open on the 25 year top tier for large balances).
• You still qualify for IBR on older loans and IBR produces a lower payment at your family size (run both in the calculator).
• You are a Parent PLUS borrower (you need a different federal path; start on StudentAid.gov).

How to estimate your RAP payment

1. Gather your most recent federal tax return AGI and your dependent count.
2. Open the repayment plan estimator and enter the same inputs you will use on your IDR application.
3. Compare RAP to IBR or Tiered Standard if you are eligible for more than one plan.
4. Apply on StudentAid.gov and save confirmation.

Our estimator documents the upper-inclusive bracket choice so you know why your payment might differ by a few dollars from a friend on a different official table.

Scams and paid “helpers”

Federal Student Aid’s IDR FAQ states plainly that you never have to pay for help with your federal student loans. RAP is a free federal plan. Anyone who promises to “put you on RAP” for a fee is selling something the government already provides.

Certification and servicer communication

RAP still follows the federal income-driven recertification rhythm. You generally submit income when you first enroll and on a regular schedule thereafter (typically tied to tax return timing, as your servicer describes in your welcome packet). Because RAP keys off prior-year AGI, a job change in March may not move your payment until the next certification unless you voluntarily report a change that triggers an interim update under federal rules.

Keep every IDR approval letter. If your servicer places you on Tiered Standard by mistake after SAVE, ask for a correction in writing before you accumulate non-qualifying PSLF months.

Auto pay and interest reduction

Federal Student Aid’s IDR FAQ describes a temporary 1 percent interest rate reduction when you enroll in qualifying auto pay before December 31, 2026, with the reduction lasting through June 30, 2028 while auto pay stays on. That benefit is separate from the payment formula but can matter if you expect a decade or more on RAP before forgiveness.

Bottom line

RAP is the centerpiece income-driven plan for borrowers in the July 2026 and later loan world. It scales payments from AGI, respects dependents, caps the percentage at 10 percent, forgives after 30 years, and counts for PSLF. Watch the small disagreements at exact AGI cutoffs, exclude Parent PLUS scenarios, and use the repayment plan estimator before you enroll.