SAVE plan 90-day notice: find your deadline to pick a plan
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- Your deadline starts with the servicer’s notice
- Find your window from the month your notice came
- Missing the deadline brings a final notice, then a fixed plan
- Compare RAP and IBR on your numbers before you apply
- Do these four things this week
- Frequently asked questions
- Your next step: get your date, then price the plans
If you were on SAVE, your deadline to pick a new plan is 90 days after your loan servicer’s notice reaches you. Servicers have sent those notices since July 1, 2026; StudentAid.gov’s example says a notice received that day had a deadline of September 29, 2026. Source · StudentAid.gov, SAVE FAQ
Recommended next step
Get your 90-day window and your next step
Pick the month your notice arrived. See your window, the free federal step that fits and, if auto pay can cut your rate, its sign-up date. About a minute, no name or email.
Check my deadlinesMiss the 90 days and your servicer sends a final 30-day notice. After that, it enrolls you in the Standard or Tiered Standard Plan. Both are fixed payments that may cost more each month than an income-driven plan.
If you’re freaking out about SAVE ending, start with the date. Before it, you choose your plan. Once the final notice’s 30 days run out, your servicer puts you on a fixed one.
What would you pay each month under RAP?
Pick where you are and add your income. You'll see your payment right here, nothing to sign up for.
Your deadline starts with the servicer’s notice
A court order of March 10, 2026 ended SAVE, so every SAVE borrower has to choose another plan. The Department of Education counted more than 7.5 million borrowers in SAVE when it began sending guidance on March 27, 2026. Source · ED press release, March 27, 2026
Your servicer sends the notice, most often by email, or by post if you asked for paper mail. Servicers notify borrowers in groups, so two people with the same servicer can have different deadlines. Every SAVE borrower gets a notice before the end of 2026.
You don’t need to act if you never applied for or enrolled in SAVE because you’re in school or a grace period, or because your loan was made on or after July 1, 2026 and hasn’t entered repayment.
Find your window from the month your notice came
Count 90 days from the day the notice reached you. If you remember only the month, the table gives the earliest and latest deadline for a notice that month. The date on your own notice decides; the table is the arithmetic.
| Notice arrived | Earliest deadline | Latest deadline |
|---|---|---|
| July 1, 2026 (StudentAid.gov's example) | September 29, 2026 | September 29, 2026 |
| July 2026 | September 29, 2026 | October 29, 2026 |
| August 2026 | October 30, 2026 | November 29, 2026 |
| September 2026 | November 30, 2026 | December 29, 2026 |
| October 2026 | December 30, 2026 | January 29, 2027 |
| November 2026 | January 30, 2027 | February 28, 2027 |
| December 2026 | March 1, 2027 | March 31, 2027 |
The first notices went out on July 1, 2026, so the earliest deadlines have passed. If yours has, watch for the final 30-day notice, and pick a plan now instead of waiting for it.
Missing the deadline brings a final notice, then a fixed plan
If you don’t pick a plan within the 90 days, your servicer sends a final notice titled "Final Notice – You will be Placed into a New Repayment Plan in 30 Days". Choose before its deadline, or the servicer enrolls you in one of two fixed plans:
- Standard Repayment Plan if you have no loan made on or after July 1, 2026.
- Tiered Standard Plan if you got a loan on or after July 1, 2026 and it has entered repayment. It pays off your balance in 10 to 25 years, set by how much you owe, at no less than $50 a month.
Either payment may be higher than on an income-driven plan, and an auto pay withdrawal rises with it. Your servicer sends the new amount at least 21 days before the first due date. Source · StudentAid.gov, SAVE FAQ
Tiered Standard payments don’t count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). StudentAid.gov tells PSLF, 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. borrowers to apply for another plan before they can be placed in it.
If you only had a pending SAVE application, your servicer denies it. Let the 90 days and the final notice pass, and you go back to the plan you were on before you applied.
Compare RAP and IBR on your numbers before you apply
The cheapest plan depends on your income, your family size and whether you’re working toward PSLF, so no one plan suits every SAVE borrower. These are the income-driven plans on the menu:
- RAP, 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. (the Repayment Assistance Plan) charges 1% to 10% of your adjusted gross income, divided by 12. It takes off $50 a month per dependent, never goes below $10 and runs 30 years.
- IBR, Income-Based Repayment. An older federal plan that sets your student loan payment from your income and family size. (Income-Based Repayment) charges 15% of discretionary income, or 10% if your first loan came on or after July 1, 2014. It never tops the 10-year Standard payment and covers loans paid out before July 1, 2026.
- PAYE, Pay As You Earn. An older income-driven repayment plan for federal Direct Loans. and ICR, Income-Contingent Repayment. An older income-driven repayment plan for federal Direct Loans. are still open for Direct Loans paid out before July 1, 2026, but both end no later than July 1, 2028.
All four count for PSLF. One catch: a new Direct Loan made on or after July 1, 2026 limits all your Direct Loans to RAP or Tiered Standard.
Our comparison of RAP, Tiered Standard and IBR works the payments out for four households, and what SAVE’s end means for each plan covers the rules in full. Source · StudentAid.gov, OBBBA definitions
If no plan’s payment fits your budget, a deferment or forbearance can pause or lower payments for a time. Interest can still build up while it runs, so ask your servicer what it would add.
Do these four things this week
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Find the notice and its date
Search your email for "You Have 90 Days to Select a New Repayment Plan" or "Final Notice – You will be Placed into a New Repayment Plan in 30 Days", or open the inbox on your servicer’s website. The day it reached you starts your 90 days.
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Compare the plans open to you
Your StudentAid.gov dashboard lists each loan’s type and first disbursement date, which decide your options. Then run your income and balance through the loan repayment calculator or StudentAid.gov’s Repayment Calculator.
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Apply for the plan you picked
Select Apply in StudentAid.gov’s Repayment Calculator, or apply for an income-driven plan at StudentAid.gov/idr. Approving the IRS data import speeds it up and recertifies your plan each year.
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Turn on auto pay by December 31, 2026
Once the new plan is in place, sign up with your servicer. Direct Loans first paid out on or after July 1, 2012 get 1 point off the rate through June 30, 2028, as our auto pay rate cut guide explains. Source · ED press release, Sept. 29, 2026
Every step is free. StudentAid.gov says help from your federal loan servicer costs nothing, and you never have to pay a company to apply for a repayment plan.
Frequently asked questions
Can I switch plans before my notice arrives?
Yes. The Department of Education says you can contact your servicer at any time to enroll in another plan, before it sends your 90-day deadline.
Do my earlier PSLF and IDR payments still count?
Yes. Changing plans doesn’t remove qualifying PSLF payments or credited IDR, Income-driven repayment. Federal student loan plans that set your monthly payment from your income and family size. payments made before the SAVE forbearance. Months in the SAVE forbearance itself earn no PSLF or IDR credit, though PSLF Buyback can cover some once you have 120 months of qualifying employment.
What if I got the final notice already?
Pick and apply for a plan before the date on that notice. After it passes, your servicer enrolls you in Standard or Tiered Standard, and your payment notice follows at least 21 days before the first due date.
Your next step: get your date, then price the plans
Tell the Student Loan Deadline Check the month your notice arrived, and it shows your 90-day window and the free federal steps that go with it. Then put your numbers through the loan repayment calculator before you apply. More repayment guides are on our student loans page.
Compare plans before you apply
Enter your balance, income and family size. See RAP, IBR and the fixed plans side by side before your 90 days run out. No email needed.
Compare repayment plansWant your repayment plan by email? Go to the quick check
Sources
Every figure in this guide comes from one of these pages. How we check sources
- StudentAid.gov, SAVE Plan Borrowers: FAQs About Choosing a Different Repayment Plan (read Oct. 10, 2026)
- U.S. Department of Education, Next Steps for Borrowers Enrolled in the SAVE Plan, March 27, 2026
- StudentAid.gov, IDR Plan Court Actions: Impact on Borrowers
- StudentAid.gov, OBBBA: Important Definitions (RAP, Tiered Standard)
- U.S. Department of Education, Extends Enrollment Period for Student Loan Interest Rate Reduction, Sept. 29, 2026
Related Resources
Leaving SAVE: RAP vs Tiered Standard in real numbers
SAVE borrowers have 90 days from their notice to pick a new plan, or the servicer picks for them. RAP, Tiered Standard and IBR payments worked out.
SAVE plan status in 2026: what borrowers do now
A March 10, 2026 court order ended SAVE. Borrowers in its forbearance must pick RAP, IBR, PAYE or ICR. See 2026 payment math for each plan.
Student loan auto pay rate reduction: deadline Dec. 31, 2026
Enroll in auto pay by Dec. 31, 2026 and your Direct Loan rate drops 1 point through June 30, 2028. Who qualifies, what it saves and how to sign up.