Make your next decision
with a clearer picture.

Dental students

2026 dental school funding changes

Understand the borrowing changes and questions to take to your financial aid office.

International dentists

The international dentist pathway

Explore advanced standing programs, eligibility and financing a US dental education.

Residents & new dentists

Your first years as a dentist

Work through income, repayment timing and public service considerations.

Financial planning

Compare repayment and refinancing

See the tradeoffs between federal repayment, forgiveness and private refinancing.

Income

Step 1: enter your associate or residency salary, raises, signing bonus and pre-tax 401(k)/HSA contributions — the inputs that set your RAP and IBR payments.

Household & loans

Step 2: filing status, spouse's income, dependents and your federal loan balance and rate — and whether your loans can still use IBR after July 1, 2026.

Paying for school

See how much of dental school federal loans cover under the 2026 caps ($50,000 a year, $200,000 total, no Grad PLUS) and how big your private gap is.

Your RAP payment

See your RAP payment from your AGI, how 401(k) and HSA contributions lower it, and whether you're just over a RAP bracket line.

PSLF & first years

Does your employer qualify for PSLF, does residency count, and should you skip the 6-month grace period and start RAP right away?

Compare plans

Compare Standard, Tiered Standard, RAP, IBR, PSLF, aggressive payoff and refinancing side by side: total paid, amount forgiven and share of your pay.

Home or practice loan

Step 7: check how your student loan payment affects your debt-to-income ratio for a physician/dentist mortgage or a dental practice acquisition loan.

Next steps

The 2026 federal student loan rules for dentists in one place: RAP, IBR, Grad PLUS, residency, refinancing, taxes on forgiveness, and what to ask your CPA.

7 minute read

Incoming D1: your financial aid steps, in order

You filed the FAFSA. Now what? The order of operations for a first-year dental student in 2026, what replaced Grad PLUS, and why the Dental Loan Organizer and Calculator (DLOC) may not let you in yet.

6 minute read

The Dental Loan Organizer and Calculator (DLOC): what it shows, and what you still work out yourself

We ran a report through the AAMC/ADEA Dental Loan Organizer and Calculator (DLOC) and compared it line by line with our own engine. The monthly payments matched to the dollar. Three things the report did not answer are the ones that change decisions.

6 minute read

What UIC dental students will actually borrow under the 2026 federal caps

UIC publishes its DMD cost of attendance, so the arithmetic is straightforward: federal loans now cover about two thirds of an Illinois resident's tuition and fees, and under half a non-resident's.

7 minute read

Grad PLUS is gone. Here's what paying for dental school looks like now.

For students starting on or after July 1, 2026, federal loans stop at $50,000 a year and $200,000 in total — while many dental schools cost $90,000 to $120,000 a year. The math, and what closes the gap.