$50.00 a month at 2% of AGI, before dependent credits
The full calculation: $30,000 sits at the top of the $20,001-$30,000 band, where RAP charges 2% of total income. That's $600 a year, or $50.00 a month. One dependent subtracts the full $50, which lands exactly on the plan's $10 minimum. Run your own household numbers:
| Dependents | Monthly Payment | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | $50.00 | 2% × $30,000 ÷ 12 |
| 1 | $10.00 | − $50 credit, $10 floor |
| 2+ | $10.00 | $10 floor applies |
At $30,000, the dependent credit equals the entire base payment. Household size fully determines what you pay.
| Path | Monthly | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| RAP, no dependents | $50.00 | $18,000 paid over 30 years, then forgiveness |
| Standard 10-yr, $30,000 balance @ 6.39% | $338.97 | $40,676 total, done in 10 years |
Nearly a 7-to-1 payment gap. RAP exists for exactly this borrower: someone whose standard payment would eat more than an eighth of gross income. The price is staying in the plan for two decades, or until income rises enough that standard payments make sense again.
Thirty thousand is a hinge income under RAP, and not only because it's cheap. It tops the 2% band, so $30,001 of income starts a new band: 3%, or $75.00 a month on the nose. Someone picking up overtime hours that push AGI past the line can raise their student loan bill by 50% with one extra dollar of reported income. If you're near a band edge, that's worth knowing in December.
The other story at this income is the dependent credit. A $50 base payment minus $50 for one child equals $10, the plan's floor. Where a six-figure borrower treats the credit as a rounding error, at $30,000 it erases the whole bill. Servicers verify family size at each annual recertification, so a new child (or a kid aging out) genuinely moves the payment.
Older plans would have set this borrower's payment to $0 under the SAVE poverty-line shield. RAP's floor means every borrower pays something, $120 a year at minimum, but in exchange the scale never takes more than 10% of income no matter how the balance looks. The general tool shows the whole ladder: RAP student loan calculator. Other salary pages: $50,000 and $80,000.
$50.00 a month with no dependents. $30,000 sits at the top of the 2% band ($20,001-$30,000), so the math is $30,000 × 2% = $600 a year, or $50 a month. One dependent subtracts $50, which puts a single-parent borrower at the $10 minimum. That makes $30,000 the income level where household size, not salary, decides the payment.
RAP has no poverty-line deduction, unlike the old income-driven plans. The percentage applies to total AGI, not to income above a threshold. That's the trade the plan made for simplicity: no $0 payments ever, a $10 floor from the first dollar, but a scale that stays far below the old 10-20%-of-discretionary charges at middle incomes.
At $30,001 you cross into the 3% band and the payment becomes $75.00 a month (3% of $30,001 ÷ 12). At $40,001 it's 4% and $133.34. Recertification happens annually, so the jump applies when your verified AGI updates, not the month you get a raise.