Student Loans

How much debt is too much for this career?

Total borrowing against a starting salary, and what the standard payment takes out of it. The bands are this site's own judgement and are labelled as such.

Gross, in the first year. Never written into the address bar.
Under one year's salary$454.60

That is the standard monthly payment, and it takes 9.9% of a gross monthly salary of $4,583.33. Standard ten-year payments on this much debt take a single-digit share of a gross starting salary.

  • 0.73xDebt as a multiple of salary
  • $454.60Standard monthly payment
  • 9.9%Share of gross monthly pay

These bands are ours, not anybody's rule

No government, lender or regulator publishes a threshold for how much student debt is too much. The three bands below are this site's editorial judgement, written down so you can disagree with them rather than take them on trust.

  • Under one year's salary. Standard ten-year payments on this much debt take a single-digit share of a gross starting salary.
  • One to one and a half years' salary. Payments start to compete with rent. Income-driven repayment becomes worth understanding rather than optional.
  • More than one and a half years' salary. Standard payments take a large share of take-home pay. Most borrowers here end up on an income-driven plan for years, which means paying longer and paying more in total.

Nothing here says you are approved for anything, or that you can or cannot afford this. This site does not underwrite and has no standing to. It shows you a payment against a salary; what that means for your life is yours to judge.

There is no official answer to this question

No government, lender or regulator publishes a limit on how much student debt is sensible against a given salary. The bands on this page are this site's own judgement. They are written down, named, and explained on the methodology page precisely so you can weigh them rather than take them as a standard.

What the payment competes with

A standard payment is fixed and lasts a decade. It has to sit alongside rent, which in most cities is the larger number, and it does not fall when your circumstances do unless you move to an income-driven plan and accept paying longer.

Sources

  1. Interest Rates for Federal Direct Loans First Disbursed Between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2027 (GENERAL-26-33), U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid. Checked on . Backs the 6.52%, 8.07% and 9.07% rates for 2026-27; the statutory add-ons and caps; the 12 May 2026 Treasury auction high yield of 4.468%.
  2. Interest rates and fees for federal student loans, U.S. Department of Education. Checked on . Backs the 1.057% and 4.228% origination fees; that the published fees run only to 30 September 2027; the 5% rate on outstanding Perkins loans.
  3. Repayment plans and important definitions, U.S. Department of Education. Checked on . Backs the annual and aggregate borrowing limits from 1 July 2026; the $20,000 annual and $65,000 aggregate Parent PLUS caps; the $257,500 lifetime maximum for a student borrower; proration of annual limits for part-time enrolment; the 1% automatic debit reduction and its June 2028 expiry.

The rules behind this calculator were last checked on .

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