SAVE plan status in 2026: what borrowers do now

SAVE is over. A federal court order on March 10, 2026 blocked the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, and as of September 29, 2026 StudentAid.gov says every borrower whose loans sit in the SAVE forbearance must choose a new repayment plan. If you don’t, your servicer will move you to one.

That choice matters more than it used to. Interest in the SAVE forbearance has accrued since August 1, 2025, and the plans on offer now charge anywhere from 1% of income to 20% of discretionary income. Our SAVE exit guide covers the deadline on your notice and what the default plan would cost.

What the March 10, 2026 court order changed

The order stops the Department of Education from implementing SAVE and invalidates most of the July 2023 rule that created it. According to StudentAid.gov, that means the Department can no longer:

• calculate payments with the SAVE or Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) formulas,
• apply SAVE discharges or SAVE interest subsidies,
• credit a consolidation loan with a weighted average of the income-driven payments made on the loans inside it, or
• let borrowers in default enter IBRIBR, Income-Based Repayment. An older federal plan that sets your student loan payment from your income and family size..

One piece of the 2023 rule survives: time in certain deferments and forbearances still counts as progress toward income-driven discharge. Applications for IBR, Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) are open, and servicers are processing them. Discharges under IBR resumed in September 2025, and the Department says its systems now process PAYEPAYE, Pay As You Earn. An older income-driven repayment plan for federal Direct Loans. and ICRICR, Income-Contingent Repayment. An older income-driven repayment plan for federal Direct Loans. discharges as well.

The Department had already said in December 2025 that it would enroll no new SAVE borrowers, deny pending applications and move everyone in SAVE to another plan. At the time it counted more than 7 million SAVE enrollees and 450,000 more with pending applications.

Your four income-driven options

Every SAVE borrower can pick from the same menu. The Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) opened on July 1, 2026. The other three are older plans, and two of them have end dates.

Plan	Monthly payment	Capped at 10-year Standard?	Discharge after
RAP	1% to 10% of AGI divided by 12, minus $50 per dependent, at least $10	No	30 years
IBR (first loan on or after July 1, 2014)	10% of income above 150% of the poverty guideline	Yes	20 years
IBR (earlier borrowers)	15% of income above 150% of the poverty guideline	Yes	25 years
PAYE (ends by July 1, 2028)	10% of income above 150% of the poverty guideline	Yes	20 years
ICR (ends by July 1, 2028)	The lesser of 20% of income above the poverty guideline or a 12-year fixed payment adjusted to income	No	25 years

Plan RAP

Monthly payment 1% to 10% of AGI divided by 12, minus $50 per dependent, at least $10

Capped at 10-year Standard? No

Discharge after 30 years

Plan IBR (first loan on or after July 1, 2014)

Monthly payment 10% of income above 150% of the poverty guideline

Capped at 10-year Standard? Yes

Discharge after 20 years

Plan IBR (earlier borrowers)

Monthly payment 15% of income above 150% of the poverty guideline

Capped at 10-year Standard? Yes

Discharge after 25 years

Plan PAYE (ends by July 1, 2028)

Monthly payment 10% of income above 150% of the poverty guideline

Capped at 10-year Standard? Yes

Discharge after 20 years

Plan ICR (ends by July 1, 2028)

Monthly payment The lesser of 20% of income above the poverty guideline or a 12-year fixed payment adjusted to income

Capped at 10-year Standard? No

Discharge after 25 years

Three rules decide which rows apply to you:

• IBR no longer requires a partial financial hardship. The Department updated its systems on December 22, 2025 so borrowers without one can enroll.
• PAYE is for “new borrowers” only. You must have had no federal loan balance when you took a loan on or after October 1, 2007, and you must have received a Direct Loan disbursement on or after October 1, 2011. Anyone on PAYE or ICR must move to another plan by June 30, 2028.
• RAPRAP, Repayment Assistance Plan. A federal plan that sets your Direct Loan payment from your income. Loans first paid out on or after July 1, 2026 can use only it or the Tiered Standard plan. rewards on-time payments. When a full, on-time payment doesn’t cover the month’s interest, the unpaid interest is waived. If the payment cuts principal by less than $50, the Department adds a matching payment.

What each plan costs at three income levels

IBR and PAYE measure discretionary income against 150% of the poverty guideline from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for your family size. For 2026 the guideline is $15,960 for one person, $21,640 for two, $27,320 for three and $33,000 for four (48 contiguous states and D.C.). RAP ignores the guideline and charges a flat percentage of your whole AGIAGI, Adjusted gross income. Your income on your federal tax return after certain adjustments. It is on line 11 of Form 1040..

The three borrowers below are hypothetical examples, not typical results. Balances use the 2026-27 rates (6.52% undergraduate, 8.07% graduate) for illustration; your older loans keep the fixed rate they were disbursed at. Borrower B’s spouse has no federal loans.

Borrower	AGI	RAP	IBR at 10%	IBR at 15%	10-year Standard
A: Single, no dependents, $30,000 owed	$40,000	$100	$134	$201	$341
B: Married filing jointly, two children, $60,000 owed	$90,000	$500	$338	$506	$682
C: Single, no dependents, graduate debt, $100,000 owed	$80,000	$467	$467	$701	$1,217

Borrower A: Single, no dependents, $30,000 owed

AGI $40,000

RAP $100

IBR at 10% $134

IBR at 15% $201

10-year Standard $341

Borrower B: Married filing jointly, two children, $60,000 owed

AGI $90,000

RAP $500

IBR at 10% $338

IBR at 15% $506

10-year Standard $682

Borrower C: Single, no dependents, graduate debt, $100,000 owed

AGI $80,000

RAP $467

IBR at 10% $467

IBR at 15% $701

10-year Standard $1,217

What the table shows:

• Borrower A pays less on RAP ($100) than on either IBR, because RAP charges only 3% at a $40,000 AGI.
• Borrower B pays less on IBR at 10% ($338). A family of four shields $49,500 of income under IBR, while RAP’s reduction for two children is only $100 a month.
• Borrower C lands on nearly the same payment under RAP and 10% IBR. The tiebreaker is time: IBR discharges after 20 years and RAP after 30, while RAP waives unpaid interest on on-time payments so the balance stops growing.

Payments reset every year when you recertify your income. If you miss recertification, your payment becomes the 10-year Standard amount, and on IBR any unpaid interest is added to your balance.

Which plan fits your situation

Interactive decision tree

Which plan should a SAVE borrower pick?

Are any of your loans parent PLUS loans, or a consolidation that repaid one?

Yes No

Switching later has a cost. Months you spent on PAYE count toward RAP, but the discharge clock becomes 30 years. Payments made on RAP do not count toward discharge if you later return to IBR, PAYE or ICR, although they still count for PSLFPSLF, Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Forgives the rest of your Direct Loans after 120 qualifying monthly payments while you work full time for a government or qualifying nonprofit employer..

SAVE forbearance months earned no PSLF credit

The SAVE forbearance is not on PSLF’s list of deferments and forbearances that count, so those months earned no PSLF credit. If you already have 120 months of certified qualifying employment, PSLF Buyback lets you pay for eligible forbearance months so they count.

The buyback price is based on the income-driven payment you likely would have owed. Two SAVE-specific rules apply:

• If the forbearance period starts or ends on or after July 1, 2024, the price cannot be based on the SAVE formula.
• If you were enrolled in SAVE on or after July 18, 2024, the Department uses the plan you were on right before SAVE.

Our PSLF Buyback guide covers who can still buy months back and the consolidation trap.

How to switch without losing ground

1. Check your loans and counts

   Log in to StudentAid.gov to see each loan’s type and disbursement date. Those two facts decide whether PAYE and IBR at 10% are open to you.

2. Apply at StudentAid.gov/idr

   Give consent to import your federal tax information. The application goes faster, and your plan recertifies automatically each year.

3. Skip any new loan or consolidation you don't need

   A new Direct Loan or consolidation on or after July 1, 2026 limits you to RAP and Tiered Standard.

4. Turn on autopay by December 31, 2026

   Since July 1, 2026, autopay cuts the rate by 1 percentage point on Direct Loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2012, through June 30, 2028. Borrowers not yet enrolled have until 11:59 p.m. Eastern on December 31, 2026.

5. Pay in full and on time every month

   Since July 1, 2026, a late or partial payment earns no credit toward income-driven discharge or PSLF for that month.

Your servicer’s notice starts a 90-day clock. The Student Loan Deadline Check turns the month your notice came into a date.

Frequently asked questions

Is the SAVE plan coming back?

The March 10, 2026 order prevents the Department from implementing SAVE, and the Department has said it will enroll no new borrowers. Plan around RAP, IBR, PAYE or ICR.

What happens if I do nothing?

StudentAid.gov says your servicer will move you to a different plan. You lose the chance to pick the one with the lowest payment or the shortest path to discharge.

Can I still get PAYE?

Yes, if you meet the new-borrower test and have no new loan disbursed on or after July 1, 2026. PAYE ends no later than July 1, 2028, and PAYE borrowers must choose another plan by June 30, 2028.

Your next step

Put your balance, income and family size into the loan repayment calculator. It shows your RAP and IBR payments side by side, so you can pick a plan yourself instead of waiting for your servicer to pick one.