Last December, the Department of Education formally announced the end of the SAVE Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plan, forcing millions of borrowers to find a new path for repayment. The announcement follows an agreement with the State of Missouri—patron of quasi-governmental agency and student loan servicer MOHELA—to eliminate the plan in exchange for withdrawing a lawsuit against the Dept. of Ed. to block the payment plan. Months later, however, millions of borrowers still remain on the SAVE plan with little guidance on how to get their loan repayment back on track.
Borrowers on the SAVE plan will soon need to select a new IDR plan, but may be confused by the changing landscape of loan repayment. Student loans were one of the many sectors impacted by the 2025 omnibus spending bill, which made some of the most sweeping changes to both lending and repayment in decades. In addition to caps on student borrowing, the elimination of whole categories of loans, and more, the bill also completely overhauled repayment plans. Starting July 1, 2026, there will just be two plans available for borrowers: a fixed-payment plan—in which a borrower’s payment is determined by the amount borrowed—and the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP), which will determine their payment according to their income. The existing IDR plans, SAVE, ICR, and PAYE, will be phased out entirely, but not all at once. IBR will remain available, however, but only to borrowers whose loans were taken out before July 1, 2026.
Although no further guidance has been given as to when SAVE borrowers will need to switch to a new plan, experts suggest that borrowers should change now. If borrowers wait too long to find a new plan, they may be moved to a fixed-payment plan that they don’t want and have to apply for a forbearance while they switch plans. Some plans also have a time-limit. The PAYE and ICR plans are still available to borrowers for now, but will become unavailable after July 1, 2026. Borrowers who are already on those plans will be able to stay on them until they are phased out in 2028, so it’s in borrowers’ best interest to apply for them before July 1 or to apply for IBR.
In short: if you are currently on the SAVE plan, it’s in your best interest to make the switch to a new plan soon before you’re forced to. If you’re one of the millions still on SAVE, give us a call and we’ll guide you through choosing a new plan. We can even help you plan for future changes to IDR in 2028 and beyond. We’re only a call or email away from getting your student loans back on track.
.png)
