Your answer
You have a clear road.
There’s real slack: loans would take 7.8% of pay above basic expenses, leaving about $3,588 a month.
How much your borrowing takes
At $5,500 a year, the ten-year payment of $303 a month takes 7.8% of your pay above basic expenses: a clear road (Excellent). At $70,633, you could borrow up to $5,600 a year and stay Excellent, $7,700 for a clear road, or $11,300 before it turns into a rough road.
The ten-year payment, the framework’s yardstick, with pay held at $70,633 and basic expenses of $23,940 a year. Above the federal limits ($5,500–$7,500 a year), the rest is counted as a private loan at 14%, which is why the line steepens.
Basic expenses: $23,940 a year, 150% of the 2026 poverty line for one person. 2026–27 federal rates; private loans at an assumed 14%. Earnings are medians, so half of graduates earn less. A planning tool, not financial advice or a prediction. How we calculate it: Methodology