- The Department of Education reported 802,730 income-based repayment (IDR) requests were pending as of November 30, down from the previous peak.
- Processing activity resumed after the shutdown, but many of November’s numbers are estimates rather than final numbers.
- Public Service Loan Forgiveness buyback requests rose to 80,210.
The Ministry of Education submits its first report Status report (PDF file) Since the government shutdown in response to the lawsuit it filed with the American Federation of Teachers. The report provides a snapshot of how income-driven repayment and public service loan forgiveness have moved — and where they remain stuck.
The report filed on 15 December 2025 in Federal Court was delayed due to the government shutdown in October and November, and covers activity through the end of November. This follows a series of monthly court-ordered disclosures after borrower advocates sued, alleging widespread delays and failure to process student loan forgiveness. The previous report was submitted back in September.
The new filing shows that while processing of applications has resumed once again, Hundreds of thousands of borrowers are still awaiting decisions on changing repayment plansThe backlog of those waiting to buy back PSLF continued to grow.
IDR processing backlog
According to the status report, the Department of Education and its loan providers 245,441 IDR applications decided in Novemberwhich exceeds the estimated 157,408 new applications received that month. This glitch has helped reduce the total outstanding IDR requests to 802,730 as of November 30.
Compared to August 2025 (last available report), the number has decreased from 1,076,266 awaiting processing.
As reported by management only 170 loans were discharged during the month of NovemberAll within the old income-based payment plan. No discharges were processed under “Pay as Earned” or “Pay as Income Potential” during the month. The Department of Education said it expects to restart loan forgiveness under other IDR plans in February 2026.
The Department of Justice (DOJ), which prepared the dossier, warned that the discharge numbers do not correspond precisely with application decisions, because borrowers are given a two-month window to opt out of discharge after being notified.
PSLF repo update
The report also updates the progress of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Buyback Process, a process that allows borrowers to retroactively buy back eligible months.
As of November 30:
- There were 80,210 PSLF buyback requests pending
- It is estimated that 3,960 applications were received in November
- 2,960 applications were decided
- There were 280 PSLF discharges during the month
Management noted that many of the PSLF discharges authorized in October were not completed until early December and therefore are not reflected in the November totals — again due to the opt-out window.
Even with this caveat, the number of pending repurchases highlights how slowly this program is moving relative to demand. In August 2025, there were 74,510 PSLF repo requests waiting to be processed – and this number has continually increased.
At the pace at which the administration is processing PSLF repurchases, borrowers could be waiting more than two years. Makes you wonder if buying back PSLF is worth it?
This month’s status report is an estimate
It is one of the most important details contained in the report Some of November’s numbers are not final.
Due to logistical disruptions during the government shutdown, the Department of Education was unable to provide firm data on the number of IDR and PSLF buyback requests received in November. Instead, the Justice Department provided estimates using changes in outstanding totals and decisions taken.
The ministry says it expects to resume reporting “hard numbers” starting with December data.
For borrowers, this means November should be read as… to updatenot accurate accounting. Any apparent acceleration or deceleration may change once verified data is released.
Correction to previous status report
The filing also corrects a major error in the previous August status report, reducing this month’s apparent backlog of more than 300,000 orders.
The administration admitted that it failed to count 327,955 procedural rejections: Applications where borrowers have chosen the “lower monthly payment plan” rather than a specific IDR payment plan. After the courts blocked the SAVE plan, this choice became ambiguous, and the Department of Education was unable to process these applications.
Once these denials were properly classified as “scheduled,” the August totals changed dramatically:
- Orders decided in August rose to 633,596from 305,641 previously reported
- Pending orders as of August 31 decreased to 748,311Of more than 1.07 million
This patch helps clear some of the backlog – but it also shows that they’ve built up a bit back up since then.
Insight into IDR tracking
In New Insights, the Department of Education provided an overview of how it determines which borrowers qualify for IDR forgiveness.
The department confirmed this It does not conduct a central review To determine when borrowers reach forgiveness limits. instead of:
- Loan servicers track and report eligible months to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS).
- The NSLDS checks eligibility for forgiveness irregularly
- at present, Income-only repayment accounts are automatically checked
- Other IDR plans are not yet fully programmed into the system
The system is expected to start verifying all IDR plans on a regular basis every two months starting next year, officials said February 2026.
Even then, borrowers who qualify for forgiveness may experience delays and may have to continue making payments even after the threshold is exceeded. The administration confirmed that the excess amounts will be recovered once the discharges are processed.
Also, when it comes to the potential tax bomb, the important date for taxes is when you exceed the threshold, not when the exemption is actually processed.
What borrowers need to know
For borrowers switching between IDR or PSLF at the moment, the latest report presents a mixed picture.
Processing has resumed after shutdown, and the overall IDR backlog is shrinking. Meanwhile, the backlog of PSLF repurchases continues to grow.
Borrowers who believe they have reached the forgiveness limits should continue to monitor their accounts and retain documentation of qualifying payments. It is also essential that these borrowers are enrolled in IBR, ICR or PAYE – not custodial, as the recent SAVE settlement confirms that time-based loan forgiveness will not be processed for those in SAVE.
Given that nearly 7 million borrowers will need to leave the SAVE program, and at the peak the Department of Education processed only 305,641 applications (in August), it is fair to say that this transition will take time.
The court-ordered reports provide transparency, but it is also clear that progress is incremental rather than immediate.
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