Live: SAVE Plan Cannot Be Saved
As of March 10, 2026, the SAVE plan for student loans is ending.
Starting July 1, 2026, 90-day notices to switch out of the plan are being sent.
The deadline is personal rather than national though, so if you're on the SAVE plan, you have 90 days to switch off from when you get the notice from your loan servicer, not from July 1.
Those who take no action on their loans will be automatically enrolled in the Standard Plan (for old loans) or the brand-new Tiered Standard Plan (for loans after July 1, 2026).
So what?
The Tiered Standard Plan (TSP) does not count toward any loan forgiveness, income-driven or Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).
With PSLF, if you work full time for the government or a nonprofit and make 120 qualifying monthly payments (10 years of payments) then the rest of your balance disappears tax free.
Common positions that can qualify for this include teachers, nurses, public defenders, city employees, and people at most charities.
But a graduate who ignores the letter can spend a year making payments on time, in full, and move zero months closer to forgiveness.
Or if you're a student and choose the TSP as your repayment plan, you should be aware there is no path toward forgiveness.
Gif by RespectiveCollective on Giphy, If you are on TSP, you will not be forgiven.
But the TSP isn't necessarily the wrong option for you. So what repayment plans can you use, and more importantly, which should you use?
Learn: Student Loan Repayment Plans
There are eight repayment plans, but which ones you can actually use comes down to your "disbursement date."
Find out which side of July 1, 2026 you are on
Your disbursement date is the day the loan money actually landed at your school.
If all your federal loans were disbursed before July 1, 2026, you have seven options.
If even one loan was disbursed on or after July 1, 2026, you have two options for all of your loans (even the ones disbursed before July 1, 2026).
If all your loans came before July 1, 2026
You get seven choices, and one of them is new this summer.
Plan | What you pay each month | Balance forgiven? | Counts toward PSLF |
|---|---|---|---|
Standard | A fixed amount, done in 10 years | No | Yes |
Graduated | Starts low, steps up every 2 years, done in 10 | No | No |
Extended | Fixed or stepped, stretched up to 30 years | No | No |
IBR | 10% of your discretionary income | Yes: 20 years | Yes |
RAP | 1% to 10% of your total income | Yes: 30 years | Yes |
PAYE* | 10% of your discretionary income | Yes: 20 years | Yes |
ICR* | 20% of discretionary income, or a 12-year fixed amount, whichever is lower | Yes: 25 years | Yes |
Snackies for Thought
1. Income-based loan forgiveness and PSLF (Public Service Loan Forgiveness) are different.
Income-based is on a timeline (e.g., 20 or 30 years) and is treated as taxable income, whereas PSLF requires you to work a public service job for 10 years and is tax free.
So $30,000 forgiven in year 20 lands on your tax return as $30,000 of income, which can be a real cost.
2. Discretionary income is your income minus 150% of the federal poverty line, rather than your whole paycheck.
IBR takes 10% of the money above that number, which is why a low earner can land at a $0 monthly payment.
3. RAP is the Repayment Assistance Plan, brand new as of July 1, 2026.
It charges a percentage of your entire income rather than your discretionary income, on a sliding scale from 1% to 10%, with a $10 monthly floor and $50 knocked off for each dependent you claim.
Under RAP, if your monthly payment comes in below the interest that accrued that month, that leftover interest is waived. And if your payment does not knock at least $50 off your principal, the government kicks in the difference so it does.
4. *PAYE (Pay As You Earn) and ICR (Income-Contingent Repayment) can be enrolled in until July 1, 2027, but are ending on July 1, 2028.
Worth knowing they exist, but you probably shouldn't plan your 10 to 30 year loan repayment around them.
If any loan came on or after July 1, 2026
You have two options.
Plan | What you pay each month | Balance forgiven? | Counts toward PSLF |
|---|---|---|---|
Tiered Standard | Fixed. 10 years for loans under $25k, 15 years for $25k to $50k, 20 years for $50k to $100k, 25 years above $100k | No | No |
RAP | 1% to 10% of your total income | Yes: 30 years | Yes |
Standard, Graduated, Extended, PAYE, ICR, and IBR are all closed to you.
This makes RAP the only road that leads to any forgiveness at all for newer loans.
Leverage: The Federal Repayment Calculator
If you took anything away from the above, it’s that choosing the right repayment plan for you can be a daunting task. That said, some tools can help.
The Repayment Calculator from studentaid.gov is the most credible spot to go.
There is a guide on the site, but in short, you enter your tax filing status (no hate, but probably single), income, dependents, state of residence, loan balance, interest rate, and your disbursement date.
You get out the plans you qualify for, your monthly payment, total to be paid, when the loan ends, lifetime interest, and more.
Straight facts from studentaid.gov
Pros:
From the source of the data, so everything is up to date.
It filters out plans you cannot get, which solves the July 1 eligibility problem for you automatically.
You can log into your own account and use your real loan data directly for personalization.
It's free!
Cons:
It shows the pre tax forgiveness number, so the taxable amount is on you to remember.
It assumes your income stays flat forever, which ideally is not the case.
It cannot tell you whether your employer qualifies for PSLF. Use the separate PSLF employer search for that.
Also, quick reminder that I am not sponsored by any of the tools I note here. I wish I was! These are just the tools I use.
Launch!
There is a lot you can action with your loans, but at least do the following:
If you are on the SAVE plan, log into studentaid.gov to determine if/when you got your notice and explore which plan is best for you to move to.
Find the latest disbursement date of your loans on studentaid.gov, so you can choose which repayment plan(s) to use.
Rome wasn’t built in a day baddies. You’ll get there.
Gif by livsriott on Giphy, You, just building Rome out here cause that’s what you do.
You’re not alone if you have a loan. Feel free to reach out if you have questions. ;)
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