Overview
- The Education Department ended the Biden-era SAVE plan and began sending 90-day notices to roughly 7 million enrollees so they must pick a new repayment option or risk automatic placement in a standard plan as of Wednesday.
- The new Repayment Assistance Plan will set payments at about 1%–10% of adjusted gross income with roughly 30 years to forgiveness while a Tiered/Standard fixed-payment option is also available.
- New annual and lifetime borrowing caps took effect for Parent PLUS and many graduate loans, including a $20,000 per year and $65,000 lifetime limit for Parent PLUS and typical graduate caps of $20,500 per year and $100,000 total with higher ceilings for some professional programs.
- Borrowers face real risks from tight administrative deadlines and operational problems because servicer backlogs and tool errors can cause missed consolidation cutoffs, automatic placement into higher‑cost plans, loss of Public Service Loan Forgiveness credit, or pushes toward private loans.
- Federal judges have already blocked some proposed PSLF restrictions and temporarily preserved higher limits for certain nursing programs while litigation and ongoing implementation work could change eligibility and guidance in the weeks ahead.