Save a forgiveness plan that expires: What to know

The Department of Education will reportedly begin contacting the more than 7 million borrowers enrolled in the now-defunct SAVE student loan repayment plan, directing them to choose a new repayment plan. The first emails are reminders, followed by formal notifications.

Starting July 1, loan servicers will issue formal 90-day notices asking borrowers to switch or be automatically placed on a standard repayment plan. That means The actual expiration date of the SAVE forbearance is likely to be September 30, 2026.

The Washington Post Reported for the first time The Department of Education will begin sending an email to SAVE borrowers on Friday encouraging them to apply for a different repayment plan. Those emails will be followed by formal notices from loan servicers giving borrowers 90 days to choose a new plan or be automatically moved to the standard repayment plan — the most expensive option available, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Associated Press Confirm schedulestating that formal 90-day notices from loan servicers will begin on July 1. Borrowers will be contacted in batches, with a new group receiving notification every two weeks. Those registered with SAVE the longest will be the first to hear from their service.

This is in line with College Investor’s previous SAVE schedule forecast for fall 2026.

Editor’s note: This is a developing story.

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Save end tolerance

The 90-day window from July 1 is faster than some expected, but a timeline analysis by The College Investor estimated that the most likely scenario is a need to change plans in the second half of 2026.

While the One Big Beautiful Bill Act officially terminates SAVE, PAYE, and ICR by June 30, 2028, the final settlement agreement that formally terminated SAVE stated a “limited time” to select a new payment plan.

Now that limited time has been set: 90 days from July 1, 2026, which likely means September 30, 2026. This means that those who fail to elect will resume standard repayment on October 1, 2026.

Borrowers will begin receiving notifications early today that they need to select a new payment plan. The follow-up notice will arrive on July 1 with a 90-day deadline.

What happens if you don’t act?

Borrowers who do not choose a new plan will automatically be placed on the Standard Repayment Plan. For borrowers with $0 monthly payments under Thrift (more than half of all enrollees), this could mean going from paying nothing to hundreds of dollars a month.

Once you enroll in a standard repayment plan, if you fail to make payments, you will start down the road to delinquency and possibly default on your loans. Nearly 8 million borrowers are already in default as the Treasury Department takes over student loan collection duties.

Interest has been accruing on SAVE loans since August 1, 2025, even while payments were paused. This means that borrowers’ balances have been growing over the past eight months without any progress toward forgiveness.

Payment plan options available

Borrowers currently have the following income-based repayment options to choose from: Income-Based Repayment (IBR), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and Income-Based Repayment (ICR). However, both PAYE and ICR are scheduled to be phased out by June 2028 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Starting July 1, 2026, borrowers will also have access to a new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). RAP charges between 1% and 10% of adjusted gross income depending on the loan balance, with a monthly deductible of $50 per dependent. Unlike SAVE, RAP requires a minimum payment of $10 per month for all borrowers: there is no $0 payment option. Amnesty under the resettlement program comes after 30 years, compared to the 20 to 25 year timeline under most previous income-based plans.

Which plan should you choose?

For most borrowers, if you want to move today, IBR and PAYE are your best options. PAYE has a slight advantage over IBR (if you are eligible for PAYE) as a future switch to RAP will not benefit from interest. Leaving an IBR plan does not increase the benefit. So, if your ultimate goal might include switching to RAP, you should opt for PAYE in the meantime.

Otherwise, IBR is a great option today, followed by RAP starting in July. Both IBR and RAP are eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).

How should borrowers prepare?

The email sent by the Department of Education on Friday is an alert and not an official notification. The 90-day countdown begins when your loan servicer sends an official notice starting July 1. However, the clock is ticking and you need to start preparing.

Here’s what borrowers should do now:

Log in to StudentAid.gov and your loan servicer’s website. Make sure your contact information is current. Notices will arrive via email, and borrowers who miss these notices may be dropped back into the standard plan without realizing it.

Use the Federal Loan Simulator. Available in StudentAid.govthe simulator allows you to compare estimated monthly payments across all available plans based on your income and loan balance.

Apply for IBR or PAYE if you need income-based payments. For borrowers who can’t afford a standard plan, applying for an income-driven repayment plan now (instead of waiting for official notice) puts you in the servicing processing queue before what will likely be a crush of applications. Servicers already have a large processing backlog, with some borrowers waiting months for their applications to be processed.

Watch out for scams. Federal’s free tools and loan servicing support can handle everything you need. Student loan scams actively target confused borrowers.

If you are pursuing PSLF, act immediately. There is no point in waiting if you are seeking PSLF. Switch to an eligible payment plan as soon as possible to start the payment clock again.

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