Methodology

We built the calculators so a reader can answer a money question without taking our word for it.

• Federal payment estimates use rule files that cite Federal Student Aid, federal loan servicers on studentaid.gov hosts, or the Federal Register. Each file has an effective date and a last-verified date. The audit trail is RULES_CHECK.md in the project kit.
• We do not hardcode a federal rule, cap, or poverty figure inside a component. When the law or the poverty guidelines change, we edit a data file and re-run the tests.
• We do not rank lenders until at least one partner program is approved and we have a written rubric (fees, eligibility, autopay discount, borrower type). Until then, partner names may appear only as pending, with a link to the lender's own site if it is useful, and with no "best of" claim.
• We tell you when a path is a bad fit, even when that path would have paid us.
• Every money page will show a last-reviewed date, a named author, a credentialed reviewer once one is hired, and a sources list.
• Rates are shown only when they come from a lender's live page or a marketplace widget, with an as-of date. If we do not have that, we do not show a rate.

RAP exact AGI bounds at multiples of 10,000 dollars starting at 20,000 have a documented conflict between servicer tables. This site follows the Edfinancial upper-inclusive wording and notes the conflict on the estimator.