What am I not understanding about my student loan current balance? Is somehting wrong here?

[MMB85]

I think they are counting my interest twice!

The page shows that my prinicpal is $28, 063.55

It also says that the interest is $1680.96

Which makes the total balance to be $29,744/51

Now look lower in the pic. It shows each account. Each account represents basically each semester I was distributed the loan. It shows the total balance. At the very bottom I showed an example of what each account looks like under the "View Details". It has the original principal, also shows the interest on that account. Those two added together are th total balance. In this example the Principal is $4414.00 and the interest that grew on the account is $197.51, which comes to $4525.28. 

However, all those total balances, which already includes the cost of interest add up to equal $28,063.55, not $29,744.51. 

$29,744.51 is my total balance of $28,063.55 (Principal+Interest) + Ithe same nterest of $1680.96. 

It is being counted twice isn't it? 

[Rikku]

No, your interest is not being counted twice - you're just making an error in your calculations.

First off, let's look at the loan with the account details visible. Your current balance on this account is $4525.28. You stated that the original balance of $4414 plus the interest of $197.51 equals your current balance. Check your math on this - it does not. Calculating your current balance is more complicated than original balance plus interest. Your current balance takes into account your original balance, monthly interest, and previous payments - so figuring out the relationship between your original balance and your current balance can be quite complex and is not worth attempting. The $197.51 unpaid interest is the interest that has accrued since your last payment. Current balance x interest rate = unpaid interest for this month.

If you add up the balances in the 4th column for all of your loans, I bet you'd get $28063.55 - but that balance does not include the unpaid interest that your loans accrued this month. The total unpaid interest on all of your loans is $1680.96. Add together the current principal balances and the interest and you should end up with the $29744.51 total listed at the top.

Does this make sense? Your first mistake was thinking that the original balance plus unpaid interest equals your total balance. Your second mistake was thinking that the interest was already added into the balance of each loan - it is not. Each month's interest will show up as 'unpaid interest' and must be added to your previous principal balance to get your current balance. The statement is confusing because of the re-use of the term 'current balance' up top - I don't blame you for getting confused, I had to stare at it for a few minutes to make sense of it, myself.

[MMB85]

Ah ya. Thought maybe I was looking at it wrong. That is what I get for looking at it at 6 am with no coffee in me yet haha.

Thanks for the clarification.

I was suppose to not have to start paying on this until another year. But I guess I don't qualify any more for IBR making 24K a year.

When paying the student loan, it pays off the unpain interest before the principal, right?

[Rikku]

Yes, payments are applied to interest before principal - which can be very frustrating when you're in the first few years of repayment. I remember doing a serious happy dance when my principal balance was finally less than what I had originally borrowed.

I am sorry that you don't qualify for IBR - at your salary, you'd think that you would. Best advice I can give is to do whatever you need to do to avoid missing payments - extended payment plan, deferment/forberance, eating ramen, whatever. At this point, don't worry about the amount of interest you're going to pay or how long it will take to pay off your loans - just don't pay late or default because it will kill your CS, which will have a huge impact on your future. If you think you won't be able to pay this month, call and make arrangements beforehand. Your income will grow as you progress in your career and you'll be better-able to make larger payments in the future. Right now, just focus on getting by.