Key points
- The SAVE repayment plan has been officially cancelled, but borrowers are waiting for an administrative deadline to end.
- The One Big Beautiful Bill officially eliminates the SAVE program and moves borrowers to IBR, but the statutory deadline is June 2028.
- Repayment timing for SAVE borrowers could be early 2026, but more likely by mid-2026.
The future of student loan repayment for SAVE borrowers now rests between a pending court ruling and how quickly the Department of Education can implement the just-passed One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB).
Borrowers in forbearance under the SAVE (Savings in Value Education) plan now know the future; But they don’t know when. OBBB explains that borrowers in the SAVE forbearance period will be forced to join the new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) if they do not choose to enroll in IBR or Standard before the forbearance period ends. But the question is regarding when remains.
When will the savings moratorium officially end and borrowers will be required to make payments again? Note: It’s not about interest accruing, it will start on August 1st and there are still no payments due. This is regarding the date of payment maybebiography.
There are several scenarios on the table for resuming savings repayments – which appear to be continually extended.
- ED forces borrowers to repay in 2026: The Department of Education could put borrowers back into repayment as soon as a court allows it, then force them to change repayment plans between July 2026 and June 2028. However, borrowers are seeing forbearance notices all the way through 2028, so this seems unlikely.
- The Department of Education keeps borrowers in forbearance until migration to RAP:The Department of Education will simply migrate all borrowers from SAVE to RAP when it begins in July 2026, coinciding with the start of the RAP. This would be similar to how the Department of Education moved borrowers from REPAYE to SAVE originally. This could also happen as late as June 2028 according to OBBBA.
- Other timetables:Literally, any timeline could happen between now and June 2028. It would be rare to keep borrowers in forbearance through 2028, and logistically it would be a nightmare for loan servicers not to coordinate with other changes taking place. However, OBBBA officially says that if borrowers don’t opt in by 2028, the Department of Education can move them…then maybe?
The quickest option that could lead to payments starting up again would be early 2026, though it’s the least likely, since since custody is binding, they can’t simply restart custody payments. our The opinion istheThe highest likelihood of resuming payments is mid-to-late 2026 for a SAVE plan borrower who automatically moves to RAP If they don’t make a decision before then. However, it wouldn’t be uncommon to go to 2028 as well…
Here’s a more in-depth look at these three scenarios.
Editor’s note:This has been updated to reflect the upcoming negotiated rulemaking process and the latest court status update.
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@thecollegeinvestor Reply to @JKeibler What’s next for Conservation Plan borrowers? Below are the most likely scenarios in our opinion. #greenscreen #Student loans #studentloandebt #Student Loan Forgiveness ♬ original sound – university investor
Option 1: Economic weakness forces borrowers not to save quickly
the Upcoming court status update It will be October 31, 2025 (this was recently moved due to the government shutdown), during which the Department of Education will likely preview some plans to transition from SAVE, if they haven’t done so before then. They did not announce anything about updating the previous status.
The Department of Education could force borrowers into other available repayment options that are currently permitted (such as IBR), but this scenario seems unlikely due to logistics and potential legality.
It is important to remember that an illegal preservation method has been found They can’t turn you back on your old Save Plan payments. They will need to move you to another plan – which OBBBA allows and they say they can move you to RAP if you don’t choose another option. But the RAP won’t be around until July 2026, so again, this seems unlikely.
This seems like a challenging timeline since this would likely require a new round of borrower communications and system updates, and informing affected individuals that they must choose between remaining IDR plans such as IBR or PAYE. Knowing that these plans will simply end in 6 months…why would you do this? (This is our opinion)
Option 2: Clean migration to IBR or RAP
Now that the budget reconciliation bill has passed and we know that the RAP will be law, the “cleanest” path forward appears to be to align the end of conservation patience with the beginning of the RAP and the revised IBR.
We know that borrowers in SAVE grace period will automatically move to RAP if they do not enroll in another repayment plan (such as IBR).
What makes the most sense is that this could be an easy coordination of both timing, communication, and implementation to get SAVE borrowers to start payments at this time. This would be similar to how borrowers originally in REPAYE migrated to SAVE.
We do not see it as likely that borrowers who have already been told they are in forbearance will see this timeline shortened. When that is also combined with the logistical workload required to migrate SAVE’s 7 to 8 million student loan borrowers, again, mid-2026 seems more realistic. But yes, the current tolerance periods end in 2026 to 2028, and we cannot deny that now.
The schedule will look like this:
- RAP will launch in July 2026
- Borrowers are given options to change
- Borrowers who fail to change by June 2028 are automatically transferred
This whole timeline looks like July 2026 should be the target relaunch date.However, again, this could legally happen as late as June 2028.
Option 3: Allowance schedules
Any timeline can happen, but it’s less likely because of all the steps required.
For example, the law stipulates that the SAVE, ICR and PAYE schemes must be abolished by June 2028. So, in theory, these schemes could continue for a long time. But the start of the transition period is July 1, 2026, so any time between those dates is also fair game. Frankly, the law specifically refers to resuming payments on July 1, 2028 in cases where the borrower fails to elect – so we’ll see if that will be an option.
The court or the Department of Education can speed things up to get things going again – assuming they do so legally. That could be 2026 for the first payments due or anything in between. However, because Borrowers are unlikely to resume savings plan payments, and restarting that quickly will require action by the borrower to move to an active repayment plan..
Again, due to the logistics required, communications required, and more, this is unlikely to happen in an “off” timing. But we saw strange things. Especially in light of the ongoing backlog of IDR processing.
What will happen next?
Now that Congress has passed the bill, the Department of Education will have to get to work setting all the official rules and policies for these new plans. Then they have to coordinate with loan service providers so that they can move forward as well.
These matters take time, effort, manpower (which the Ministry lacks), legal analysis, and much more.
Regardless, SAVE’s 7 to 8 million borrowers will have to make some decisions about their loans over the next six to 12 months. This choice will be between IBR and RAP.
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Editor: Colin Greaves
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