The Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP), explained for dentists

The Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) opened July 1, 2026. If you borrowed any federal loan on or after that date, RAP is the only income-driven plan you can use. Your other choice is the Tiered Standard plan, a fixed payment.

For dentists, RAP comes down to one comparison. Your payment is a slice of your income. Your interest is a slice of a very large balance. Which one is bigger decides almost everything below.

How the RAP payment is figured

RAP uses your total adjusted gross income (AGI), not “discretionary” income like the older plans. There’s no poverty-line deduction. The steps, per the Congressional Research Service:

1. Find your AGI bracket and its percentage (table below).
2. Multiply your AGI by that percentage and divide by 12.
3. Subtract $50 a month for each dependent you claim.
4. If the result is under $10, you pay $10.

AGI	Share of AGI	Monthly payment at the top of the bracket (no dependents)
$10,000 or less	flat $10	$10
$10,001–$20,000	1%	about $17
$20,001–$30,000	2%	$50
$30,001–$40,000	3%	$100
$40,001–$50,000	4%	about $167
$50,001–$60,000	5%	$250
$60,001–$70,000	6%	$350
$70,001–$80,000	7%	about $467
$80,001–$90,000	8%	$600
$90,001–$100,000	9%	$750
Over $100,000	10%	$833 at $100,001; $1,250 at $150,000

The percentage applies to your whole AGI, not just the dollars in the bracket. So crossing $100,000 by one dollar raises the payment from $750 to about $833 a month.

What RAP does with interest and principal

Two features matter more for dentists than the payment formula:

• Interest waiver. If your payment doesn’t cover the month’s interest, the rest isn’t charged. Your balance can’t grow on RAP.
• Principal match. If your payment knocks less than $50 off principal, the government adds a match of up to $50. So a full, on-time payment of $50 or more always lowers the balance by at least $50. A $10 minimum payment gets a $10 match.

After 360 qualifying payments (30 years), any remaining balance is forgiven. That forgiveness is federal taxable income under current law; see Student loan forgiveness is taxable again. RAP payments also count toward PSLF, where forgiveness comes after 120 payments and is tax-free.

Married: filing separately vs jointly

RAP is based on the AGI on your tax return. File jointly and, per the federal servicer Edfinancial, your payment is based on your combined income. File separately and, per TICAS, RAP leaves your spouse’s income out.

Filing separately can cost more in taxes than it saves in payments. If your spouse earns well, run both ways with a tax preparer before you file.

The math on $300,000 at 8.07%

Take $300,000 of federal loans at 8.07%, the 2026–27 graduate rate. Interest runs about $2,018 a month. No dependents; figures rounded.

Stage	AGI	RAP payment	Interest not covered (waived)	Balance change
Resident	about $65,000	about $325	about $1,693 a month	falls about $50 a month
New associate	about $150,000	about $1,250	about $768 a month	falls about $50 a month
Established associate	about $220,000	about $1,833	about $184 a month	falls about $50 a month

None of the three covers the interest. At 10% of AGI, you’d need an AGI of about $242,000 before the payment beats $2,018. Two dependents take $100 off each payment.

What that means over time, assuming the same loan:

• Three years of residency at $65,000: you pay about $11,700. The balance drops to about $298,200 instead of growing.
• Flat $220,000 for 30 years: you pay about $660,000. About $282,000 is still owed and forgiven, and taxed.
• $220,000 growing 3% a year: payments pass the interest line in a few years. The loan is paid off in about 23 years, for about $720,000 in total.
• $150,000 growing 3% a year: about $714,000 paid over 30 years, with about $165,000 forgiven and taxed.

For comparison, the 25-year Tiered Standard payment on $300,000 at 8.07% is about $2,329 a month, about $699,000 in total. Your own numbers will differ; income rarely stays flat.

Who RAP is good for

• Residents. Payments stay small and the balance can’t grow. Under older plans, unpaid interest piled up during residency.
• Dentists headed for PSLF. At a qualifying employer, lower payments mean more forgiven tax-free after 10 years. See PSLF for dentists.
• Dentists with high debt and modest income. Public health, part-time work or a slow first few years all fit here.

Who should look at Tiered Standard or refinancing

• You want a fixed payment and a firm end date. Tiered Standard runs 25 years on a balance of $100,000 or more. For new borrowers, NASFAA’s chart shows only RAP payments count toward PSLF, so don’t pick Tiered Standard if PSLF is the plan.
• You earn well above about $242,000 and aren’t pursuing PSLF. You’ll likely pay the whole balance on RAP anyway. Then the interest rate is what matters, and a lower private rate can cost less. Compare in Should you refinance your dental school loans?

Refinancing turns federal loans into private ones. It ends access to RAP, PSLF, federal forgiveness, and federal deferment and forbearance for those loans. Here’s when refinancing costs you money: When refinancing is a mistake.

If you borrowed before July 1, 2026: IBR

Existing borrowers keep more choices. NASFAA’s chart shows that borrowers with no new loans on or after July 1, 2026 can still use IBR, alongside RAP. ICR and PAYE end June 30, 2028.

The catch is easy to trip. The National Consumer Law Center warns that one new federal loan, or a consolidation after July 1, 2026, drops all your loans into RAP-or-Tiered-Standard. CRS gives the same warning for new loans. Before you consolidate or borrow again, see Consolidation vs refinancing.

What to do next

1. Pull your AGI from last year’s return and find your bracket in the table.
2. Compare your RAP payment to your monthly interest (balance × rate ÷ 12).
3. Decide whether PSLF is realistic. If your employer is a government agency or a 501(c)(3), read PSLF for dentists.
4. If you’re in private practice and earning well, run your numbers in the refinance vs forgiveness tool and read Refinance vs PSLF vs RAP.
5. Enroll in RAP free at studentaid.gov. Never pay a company to do it.