RAP vs IBR vs Tiered Standard: Which Federal Plan Fits?

You do not pick a federal student loan plan for the acronym. You pick it for cash flow, forgiveness timing, and whether each payment counts for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). After the SAVE Plan ended in March 2026 and new rules took effect July 1, 2026, most borrowers narrow the field to three living options: Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP), Income-Based Repayment (IBR), and Tiered Standard.

This guide compares them with official rules only. Use the repayment plan estimator to turn the comparison into dollars for your AGI, dependents, and balance.

Quick decision tree

1. Do you need PSLF? If yes, drop Tiered Standard unless you have a written strategy to switch later (usually a bad idea). Compare RAP and IBR only.
2. Were all your loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2026? If yes, IBR is off the table as your IDR plan. Use RAP for income-driven relief or Tiered Standard for fixed payments without PSLF.
3. Do you have loans before and after July 1, 2026? You may qualify for multiple plans. Run both in the calculator.
4. Is your income volatile? Favor RAP or IBR over Tiered Standard.
5. Do you hate IDR paperwork? Tiered Standard is simpler, but you trade away income protection and PSLF.

The plan eligibility quiz encodes steps 2 and 3.

Side-by-side comparison

Factor	RAP	IBR	Tiered Standard
Payment type	% of prior-year AGI (10 dollar floor, 50 dollars per dependent)	% of discretionary income (10% or 15%)	Fixed amortization
Typical income data	Tax return AGI	Tax return AGI + family size	Balance only
Max payment flavor	Up to 10% of AGI in official tables	Capped at 10-year Standard amount	Driven by term tier
Forgiveness horizon	30 years	20 or 25 years (IBR rules)	Paid by end of tier term
PSLF qualifying?	Yes	Yes	No
Post-2026 only loans	Only IDR option if all loans post 7/1/2026	Not when all loans post 7/1/2026	Needs at least one loan post 7/1/2026
Parent PLUS	Not eligible	Not eligible	Not a Parent PLUS IDR substitute

For plan deep dives, read RAP explained and Tiered Standard explained.

RAP in one paragraph

RAP starts at 10 dollars per month when AGI is 10,000 dollars or less, then adds 1 percentage point of AGI for each 10,000 dollar band until it reaches 10 percent above 100,000 dollars AGI. Subtract 50 dollars per month per dependent. Forgive after 30 years. Payments count for PSLF.

Source note: Official tables disagree on exact AGI boundaries (for example, 20,000 dollars exactly). Sources disagree at exact AGI bounds; this site follows Edfinancial upper-inclusive brackets in the calculator.

IBR in one paragraph

IBR defines discretionary income as AGI minus 150 percent of the HHS poverty guideline. For 2026 in the 48 contiguous states and DC, the guideline for one person is 15,960 dollars, so 150 percent is 23,940 dollars (Federal Register). Payments are 10 percent of discretionary income for new borrowers after July 1, 2014, otherwise 15 percent, and never more than the 10-year Standard payment. IBR remains for loans first disbursed before July 1, 2026 (with the usual Direct vs FFEL rules on StudentAid.gov). Payments count for PSLF.

Tiered Standard in one paragraph

Tiered Standard sets a fixed payment for 10, 15, 20, or 25 years based on total Direct Loan principal:

• Less than 25,000 dollars: 10 years
• Exactly 25,000 to under 50,000: 15 years
• 50,000 to under 100,000: 20 years
• 100,000 dollars or more: 25 years

Payments do not count for PSLF, per Federal Student Aid’s SAVE FAQ.

When RAP wins

RAP tends to win when:

• Your loans are mostly or entirely post-July 2026 and you need IDR.
• Your AGI is moderate and dependents materially lower the payment.
• You work toward PSLF and want a living IDR plan without returning to SAVE.
• You want a single percentage-of-AGI frame instead of poverty math.

Run your exact AGI in the repayment plan estimator. A borrower with dependents at 45,000 dollars AGI may see a meaningful RAP discount from the 50 dollar line.

When IBR wins

IBR tends to win when:

• You still hold pre-July 2026 loans and qualify for IBR.
• Your family size pushes discretionary income close to zero under poverty rules, producing a very low payment.
• You are a new borrower after July 1, 2014 at the 10 percent rate and IBR beats RAP at your income.
• You want 20-year forgiveness (new borrowers) instead of RAP’s 30-year timeline.

IBR uses the poverty tables updated each January. Our estimator loads the 2026 guideline file; do not assume 2024 numbers from an old blog.

When Tiered Standard wins

Tiered Standard tends to win when:

• You earn enough to pay a predictable bill and do not want income certification.
• You do not need PSLF and will not take qualifying public service work.
• Your balance tier lands you in 15 or 20 years with a payment you can budget around.

It loses badly when you take a government or nonprofit job and expect years of payments to count for PSLF. See PSLF in 2026: do not refinance.

Mixed disbursement dates: a common 2026 story

Imagine a borrower who finished undergrad in 2024, entered grad school in 2026, and took new Direct Loans after July 1, 2026. They still owe undergrad Direct Loans from 2022.

That borrower may:

• Access Tiered Standard because a 2026 loan exists.
• Still access IBR on the pre-2026 slice if rules allow consolidation choices.
• Use RAP when income-driven relief fits the whole package.

There is no universal winner without numbers. The eligibility quiz flags when Tiered Standard opens and when IBR closes because all loans are post-2026.

Legacy plans still on statements

PAYE and ICR remain for some borrowers today but end no later than July 1, 2028. If your statement still shows them, plan a move to RAP or IBR before the deadline. Details in PAYE and ICR in 2028.

Do not return to SAVE. It ended in March 2026.

Taxation if you receive forgiveness

Federal Student Aid warns that IDR discharges on or after January 1, 2026 may be taxed federally. Forgiveness is not automatically tax-free. Factor that into long-term comparisons between 20-year IBR forgiveness, 30-year RAP forgiveness, and paying off under Tiered Standard without forgiveness.

How to compare in under 15 minutes

1. Pull AGI, dependents, and total Direct balance from StudentAid.gov.
2. Open repayment plan estimator.
3. Toggle each plan your plan eligibility row marks available.
4. If PSLF is possible, ignore Tiered Standard unless a credentialed advisor documents a switch plan.
5. Enroll on StudentAid.gov. Keep confirmation PDFs.

No paid debt relief required

All three plans are federal. You never have to pay a debt-relief company to enroll. Federal Student Aid’s IDR FAQ states that clearly.

Bottom line

RAP, IBR, and Tiered Standard split the market by disbursement date, income math, and PSLF. Use RAP or IBR when you need affordability and forgiveness credit. Use Tiered Standard only when you want fixed payments and you have ruled out PSLF. The repayment plan estimator is the fairest way to choose, because it uses the same rule files cited in this article, not generic 2022 advice.