Key Points
- Borrowers on the SAVE plan are receiving automatic emails warning of upcoming payment resumptions, even though most forbearance end dates are expected to extend into 2026.
- These notices are automated and often inaccurate, yet they have caused confusion and concern among borrowers.
- The Department of Education has not provided official clarification or updated timelines, leaving borrowers in limbo while legal proceedings around SAVE continue.
Student loan borrowers enrolled in the SAVE repayment plan are receiving automated emails from their loan servicers warning that their forbearance is ending and payments are set to resume. However, these messages appear to be both premature and misleading.
These alerts, sent by loan servicers such as MOHELA, have told borrowers that payments will restart in June, with a specific amount listed and auto-debit notices included. However, according to borrowers who called their servicers, the emails are incorrect, and were sent due to an automatic notification system.
It's important to remember that the SAVE plan is currently paused due to an 8th Circuit Court injunction. As long as the court case is in process, borrowers enrolled in the SAVE plan will remain in forbearance. While we don't know what the timeline for resolution could be, it definitely has not happened yet.
Furthermore, even when the court case is resolved, it's likely that student loan payments for borrowers in SAVE won't resume for several months after. Restarting these system and creating new rules will take time.
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Notifications Suggest Payments Are Restarting
The notifications, which began arriving around May 15, state:
“The deferment or forbearance to postpone payments on the loan(s) listed below will end on 5/15/2025… Your monthly payment amount of $[x] will be automatically withdrawn from the bank account on file beginning on 06/17/25.
Borrowers have reported that the stated payment amount matches what they were paying before their loans entered SAVE forbearance.
This led some to believe they had been removed from SAVE, or that the Department of Education was quietly ending the program without public notice.
In reality, these messages appear to be system-generated notifications tied to outdated servicing timelines. Borrowers who reached out to MOHELA report being told that the emails were incorrect and that their SAVE forbearance was still active.
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Most Borrowers Will Likely Stay In Forbearance Into 2026
The Department of Education has not publicly announced a change to the SAVE forbearance timeline.
We estimate that borrowers are expected to remain in forbearance well into 2026 due to the ongoing legal challenges to the SAVE plan. We are already seeing borrowers report student loan forbearance dates ending in September 2026, and this aligns to what a logistical timeline could look like.
Even if the SAVE litigation resolves in May or June, the Department of Education would have to make new rules on how to deal with the existing borrowers in the SAVE plan. It's likely those rules won't go into effect until late 2025 or early 2026.
The rules will likely have some type of grace period to switch repayment plans, or end up defaulting into a standard plan or default. Plus, even the logistics of restarting payments for borrowers would take 120 days at least (since systems need to be re-activated, statements need to go out).
There are also might need to be coordination with the rollout of the potential new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP), which is currently proposed and, if signed into law, would take effect in July 2026.
The bottom line is that the middle of 2026 seems the most logical date to resume payments for borrowers in SAVE.
There are a few exceptions. Borrowers who previously submitted requests to change their repayment plan may find themselves shifted out of SAVE if that IDR request recently processed. Loan servicers have returned to processing valid IDR applications as of last week.
For borrowers who have remained in SAVE with no plan change requests, these automated emails are simply inaccurate.
No Official Update From The Department Of Education
So far, the Department of Education has not commented publicly on the email notices. While loan servicer phone representatives are confirming that borrowers remain in SAVE, no formal communication has clarified why the emails were sent or what borrowers should expect next.
This lack of clarity comes as legal action continues over the SAVE plan and other changes to income-driven repayment. Until the courts issue a final ruling or the Department provides new guidance, upwards of 8 million SAVE borrowers are effectively in limbo.
Borrowers should double-check their current plan status via StudentAid.gov and avoid assuming that a single email reflects their actual repayment status. At the end of the day, there are a lot of borrowers in a lot of various loan statuses and repayment plans, so you need to check your own account and know the correct information for your loans.
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Editor: Colin Graves
Robert Farrington is the founder of The College Investor and is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading voices on student loan debt and saving for college. He holds an MBA from UC San Diego Rady School of Management and has spent over 15 years researching, writing, and advising on student loans, 529 plans, financial aid programs, and saving and investing for young professionals.
Robert has been featured in the The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, NBC News, and Forbes, where he has been a regular personal finance contributor for over a decade. His work combines both professional expertise and personal experience – he successfully navigated his own student loan repayment journey and has helped thousands of readers do the same.
He is committed to making the intersection of personal finance and education transparent and accessible. You can learn more about Robert on the About Page or on his personal site RobertFarrington.com.