Dental student loan repayment guide (2026 rules)

Yes. A report generated from the AAMC/ADEA Dental Loan Organizer and Calculator on September 30, 2026 modeled RAP alongside IBR/PAYE, Standard and Tiered-Standard, with PSLF figures. Its RAP payment matched ours to the dollar on the same inputs. What the report did not show was the tax on forgiven balances, the share of income each plan takes, or any planning for loans not yet borrowed.

They are the same AAMC tool for three audiences: MLOC for medical students, DLOC for dental students, and OLOC for osteopathic students. DLOC is the dental version, provided through an AAMC and ADEA partnership and free to enrolled dental students and graduates. If your school pointed you at MLOC, it was built around medical training and residency rather than dental school.

A loan organizer needs loans to organize, so it has little to tell a D1. Before you borrow, the questions are how much of your cost of attendance federal loans still cover under the $50,000-a-year and $200,000 total caps, how big the private gap is, and what the combined payment looks like after graduation. That is what the guide on this site is built for.

It depends on your employer, income and balance. If you work for a PSLF-qualifying employer (nonprofit hospital, FQHC, public health, VA, military, dental school), RAP plus PSLF is usually the cheapest: payments are based on income and the balance is forgiven tax-free after 120 payments. In private practice, many new dentists with a high debt-to-income ratio compare RAP with paying the loans off in 7–10 years. The guide compares every option with your own numbers.

RAP charges 1% to 10% of your entire adjusted gross income depending on your bracket ($10 a month minimum), minus $50 a month for each dependent. Unpaid interest is waived, the government adds a principal match of up to $50, and any balance left after 360 qualifying payments (30 years) is forgiven as taxable income.

Not new borrowers. Grad PLUS closed to new borrowers on July 1, 2026. Professional students can borrow up to $50,000 a year and $200,000 in total in federal loans. Students who were already borrowing for their program keep the old limits for up to three more academic years.

Only for loans disbursed before July 1, 2026. Loans made on or after that date can only use RAP or the Tiered Standard plan. Old IBR is 10% of discretionary income with forgiveness after 20 years for borrowers whose first loan was on or after July 1, 2014, and 15% over 25 years for earlier borrowers.

A paid residency at a qualifying nonprofit or public hospital can count, as long as you're working full time and making qualifying payments. Because resident income is low, the payment on RAP is small. Unpaid, student-status residencies usually stay in deferment and don't count.

Refinancing private loans for a lower rate is often worth it. Refinancing federal loans is permanent: you lose RAP, IBR, PSLF, forgiveness and federal pauses. It generally makes sense only if you're sure you'll pay the loans off quickly and won't work for a PSLF employer.

PSLF forgiveness is tax-free at the federal level (a few states may tax it). Forgiveness under RAP or IBR is taxable as income, federal and state, for discharges from 2026 on, so borrowers aiming for it should set money aside each year for the tax bill.