Key Points
- The Education Department is emailing more than 7 million SAVE borrowers starting today directing them to select a new repayment plan.
- SAVE student loan forbearance will be ending by September 30, 2026.
- Borrowers must select a new repayment plan or will be defaulted back into the Standard Repayment Plan.
The Department of Education has started 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 notices.
Starting July 1, loan servicers will issue formal 90-day notices requiring borrowers to switch or be automatically placed on the standard repayment plan. That means the effective end date of the SAVE forbearance will likely be September 30, 2026.
The Washington Post first reported that the Education Department would begin emailing SAVE borrowers on Friday to encourage 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 into the standard repayment plan — the most expensive option available, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The Associated Press confirmed the timeline, reporting that the formal 90-day notices from loan servicers will begin on July 1. Borrowers will be contacted in waves, with a new group receiving notice every two weeks. Those enrolled in SAVE the longest will be the first to hear from their servicers.
This aligns with The College Investor's previous SAVE Timeline Predictions of fall 2026.
The Department of Education posted similar guidance here.
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SAVE Forbearance Ending
The 90-day window from July 1 is faster than some expected, but The College Investor's timeline analysis estimated that the most likely scenario was a requirement to change plans in the second half of 2026.
While the One Big Beautiful Bill Act officially sunset SAVE, PAYE, and ICR by June 30, 2028, the final settlement agreement that officially killed SAVE mentioned "a limited time" to select a new repayment plan.
Now that limited time has been defined: 90 days from July 1, 2026 which likely means September 30, 2026. That would mean those who fail to select would resume Standard Repayment on October 1, 2026.
Borrowers will begin receiving notices as early as today that they need to select a new repayment plan. A follow-up notice will arrive on July 1 with the firm 90 day deadline.
What Happens If You Don't Act
Borrowers who do not select a new plan will be automatically placed on the standard repayment plan. For the borrowers who had $0 monthly payments under SAVE (upwards of half of all enrollees) this could mean going from paying nothing to hundreds of dollars per month.
Once you're enrolled in the standard repayment plan, if you fail to make payments, you'll start down the path of delinquency and potentially default on your loans. Nearly 8 million borrowers are already in default as the Department of Treasury takes over student loan collection duties.
Interest has been accruing on SAVE loans since August 1, 2025, even while payments have been paused. That means borrowers' balances have been growing for the past eight months with no progress toward forgiveness.
Available Repayment Plan Options
Borrowers currently have the following income-driven repayment options to choose from: Income-Based Repayment (IBR), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR). However, both PAYE and ICR are scheduled to be eliminated by June 2028 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Starting July 1, 2026, borrowers will also have access to the new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). RAP charges between 1% and 10% of adjusted gross income depending on loan balance, with a $50 monthly deduction per dependent. Unlike SAVE, RAP requires a minimum payment of $10 per month for all borrowers: there is no $0 payment option. Forgiveness under RAP comes after 30 years, compared to the 20-25 year timeline under most prior income-driven plans.
Which plan should you choose?
For most borrowers, if you want to move today, IBR and PAYE are your best choices. PAYE has a slight advantage over IBR (if you're PAYE-eligible) in that a future switch to RAP won't capitalize interest. Leaving the IBR plan does capitalize interest. So, if your end goal might involve switching to RAP, then you should choose PAYE in the meantime.
Otherwise IBR is a great choice today, followed by RAP starting in July. Both IBR and RAP are eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).
How Borrowers Should Prepare
The Education Department's Friday email is a heads-up, not the formal notice. The 90-day countdown begins when your loan servicer sends its official notice starting July 1. However, the clock is ticking and you need to start preparing.
Here is what borrowers should do now:
Log into StudentAid.gov and your loan servicer's website. Make sure your contact information is current. Notices will arrive by email, and borrowers who miss them could be defaulted into the standard plan without realizing it.
Use the federal Loan Simulator. Available at StudentAid.gov, the simulator lets you compare estimated monthly payments across all available plans based on your income and loan balance.
Apply for IBR or PAYE if you need income-driven payments. For borrowers who cannot afford the standard plan, filing an Income-Driven Repayment Plan Request now (rather than waiting for the formal notice ) gets you into the servicer processing queue ahead of what will likely be a crush of applications. Servicers already have a significant processing backlog, with some borrowers waiting months for their applications to go through.
Watch fo scams. Free federal tools and loan servicer support can handle everything you need. Student loan scams are actively targeting confused borrowers.
If you're pursuing PSLF, act immediately. There's no benefit to waiting if you're pursuing PSLF. Switch to a qualifying repayment plan as soon as possible to start the payment clock again.
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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.