Overview
- January’s status report shows 260,358 new IDR applications received and 379,702 processed, with 325,542 approvals, continuing a ten‑month decline in pending cases.
- More than 40,000 borrowers were identified in January as eligible for IDR cancellation, including 10,873 in IBR, 10,729 in ICR, and 820 in PAYE, with over 20,000 notified and discharges slated to begin in March.
- Public Service Loan Forgiveness recorded 18,160 discharges in January, a sharp increase from the prior month’s reported total.
- The PSLF Buyback queue grew to 86,520 pending requests in January as only 2,430 were processed, of which 1,980 were approved, signaling a persistent processing bottleneck.
- The SAVE repayment plan remains blocked, and the department says its potential end could force millions to switch plans, risking a surge of new IDR requests that could strain processing capacity.