Overview
- The Education Department on Friday, March 27, began notifying more than 7 million SAVE enrollees to move into a different student loan repayment plan.
- Starting July 1, servicers will contact borrowers in waves every two weeks, and each person will have 90 days to pick a new plan or be placed in the standard 10‑year plan if they do nothing.
- A new option called the Repayment Assistance Plan opens July 1, offering income-based payments over as long as 30 years, and some borrowers may first switch to another plan, then move to RAP once it is available.
- Many borrowers will owe more each month than under SAVE, and balances have grown for some since interest started accruing again after a 2024 court order paused the plan’s rollout.
- Processing capacity is tight, with more than 576,000 plan‑transfer applications pending as of February 28, and advocates warn that higher bills and backlogs could lead to errors and more defaults.