This calculator has been superseded by the new Loan Discount Analzyer calculator, which can analyze a much greater collection of loan discounts.

Several lenders offer special discounts for allowing them to automatically debit your bank account for the payments or for on-time payment. For example, some lenders offer the following discounts on loans:

• Direct Repay: If you authorize an automatic monthly deduction of the loan payments from your checking or savings account, you get a 1/4 of a percentage point interest rate reduction.

• Great Returns: If you make the first 24 scheduled monthly payments on time, you get a credit on your Stafford Loan equivalent to the 3% origination fee less $250. (This only results in savings if you've borrowed more than $8,334 in Stafford loans.)

• Great Rewards: If you make the first 48 scheduled monthly payments on time, you get a full two percentage point interest rate reduction for the remaining term of your loans.