Your RAP payment, split.
Married with student loans? Punch in your numbers and I’ll show you how the Repayment Assistance Plan divides the monthly payment between you and your spouse — and whether filing jointly or separately saves you money.
Your monthly RAP payments
How we got there.
RAP starts with your combined income, picks a bracket, then splits the result between you based on each spouse’s share of the loan balance.
- 1Combined AGI sets the bracketAt $95,000, you’re in the $90,001–$100,000 (9%) bracket. The whole AGI gets that rate (it’s bracketed, not marginal).
- 2Annual base → monthly9% of $95,000 = $8,550/year ÷ 12 = $712.50/month.
- 3Dependent reductionNo dependents claimed, so no reduction. Household payment before splitting: $712.50/month.
- 4Proration between spousesThe household payment splits by each spouse’s share of the eligible federal balance.Borrower 1 · 60.0% Borrower 2 · 40.0%
- 5$10 floor checkBoth shares are above the $10 minimum, so no adjustment needed.
How RAP handles marriage
The Repayment Assistance Plan launches July 1, 2026. It uses a tiered percentage of AGI — 1% at the bottom, climbing to 10% above $100,000 — rather than the discretionary-income formula older IDR plans use. Married couples need to understand four moving parts:
- Filing jointly pools your income
- Filing MFJ means RAP looks at your combined AGI to pick the bracket. That generally puts you in a higher bracket than either of you would hit alone.
- Filing separately uses just your income
- Filing MFS means each of you runs the calculation independently — your own AGI, your own dependents, your own loan balance. Spouses with widely different incomes often pay less under MFS, but you lose tax benefits like the Earned Income Credit and education credits.
- Proration splits the household payment — but only sometimes
- When you file jointly and both spouses have eligible federal loans, the household payment is split between you in proportion to your share of the combined loan balance. If one spouse has no federal loans, no proration applies — the borrowing spouse pays the full household amount calculated on combined income.
- The $50 dependent reduction comes off before splitting
- For each dependent claimed on your tax return, RAP knocks $50/month off the payment. Under MFJ, the reduction comes off the household payment before it’s split between spouses. Under MFS, each spouse’s reduction applies only to their own payment.
- Every payment has a $10 floor
- No monthly payment can be less than $10, even after dependent reductions and proration. If your share would otherwise come out below $10, the regulation rounds it up.
This calculator is illustrative and reflects 34 CFR § 685.209 as published in the May 1, 2026 Federal Register. It is not legal or financial advice. RAP rules may be revised through sub-regulatory guidance before launch — borrowers should consult an attorney for their specific situation. If you’d like a human to run these numbers with you, book a 20-min call ($200, written recap the next day).
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