PSLF Estimator

Enter your Federal student loan balance, your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) from your last tax return, family size, and how many years of qualifying payments you have already made.

The estimator projects your monthly payment under an Income-Driven Repayment plan (like SAVE) and calculates the estimated tax-free forgiveness after 120 payments.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) is the single most valuable financial tool available to young physicians. If you work for a 501(c)(3) non-profit hospital (which most academic and many community hospitals are), the government will forgive your entire Federal loan balance tax-free after 10 years.

For a doctor with $400,000 in debt, achieving PSLF is mathematical equivalent to earning an extra $1,000,000 pre-tax.

Discretionary Income: AGI - (2.25 × Federal Poverty Line).

Monthly Payment: Typically 10% of discretionary income divided by 12. Notice that the loan balance does NOT determine the monthly payment—only your income does. This is why residents have very low payments despite massive debt.

• Pearl: Always file your taxes as soon as possible during your MS4 year (reporting $0 income) so your intern year PSLF payments are calculated as $0/month.
• Pitfall: Refinancing Federal loans with a private bank (e.g., SoFi, Laurel Road) permanently disqualifies you from PSLF. Never do this until you are 100% certain you are taking a private practice job that does not qualify for PSLF.
• Pearl: If you are married to another high-earner, filing taxes as "Married Filing Separately" (MFS) can exclude your spouse's income from the payment calculation, potentially saving thousands.