THE SAVE PLAN ENDED. HERE IS WHAT TO DO NOW.

If you were on the student loan repayment plan called SAVE, you have probably received a letter or an email this year that made your stomach drop. You are not alone, and you have more room to act than the headlines suggest. I carried more than $111,000 in student loans myself before my own federal loans were discharged in 2022, so I know how heavy one notice can feel.

Here is what changed, in plain terms, and what to check.

WHAT HAPPENED TO SAVE

SAVE was an income driven repayment plan, meaning your monthly payment was set by your income and family size rather than by your balance. It was tied up in court for most of 2024 and 2025, and many borrowers sat in forbearance, a pause on payments, while the case played out.

On March 10, 2026, a court order ended the SAVE plan for good. That news comes from the federal loan servicers themselves.

THE NOTICE AND THE CLOCK

Starting July 1, 2026, the Department of Education began sending SAVE borrowers a notice giving them 90 days to choose a new repayment plan. The notices go out in waves, so your date depends on when your own notice was sent. Later, servicers sent a final notice that gave another 30 days. The first group of borrowers reached that final date at the end of October, and others have later dates still coming.

Look at your own notice for your own deadline. Do not go by a date you heard from a friend or saw online.

IF YOU DO NOT CHOOSE A PLAN

If you let the deadline pass, the Department of Education places you in a Standard plan automatically. For loans taken out before July 1, 2026, that is the Standard plan, which sets a fixed payment based on your balance. Those payments can be far higher than what you paid under SAVE, and they generally do not count toward income based forgiveness.

Two things to know if this happens to you. You can still apply for an income driven plan after the deadline. And if you are on autopay, watch your bank account closely, because the higher Standard payment can be pulled automatically.

THE PLANS YOU CAN MOVE TO

The main choices for most former SAVE borrowers are these:

1. 1

   Repayment Assistance Plan. This is the new income driven plan that opened July 1, 2026. Your payment is a percentage of your income, rising to as much as 10 percent at higher incomes, minus $50 a month for each dependent, with a minimum payment of $10. If your payment does not cover the month's interest, the unpaid interest is covered. Any balance left after 30 years of qualifying payments is forgiven, and the forgiven amount may be taxed as income.

2. 2

   Income Based Repayment. An older income driven plan that remains open to many borrowers.

3. 3

   Standard repayment. A fixed payment that pays the loan off on a set schedule.

Two other plans, Pay As You Earn and Income Contingent Repayment, are still available for now, but they end on July 1, 2028, so anyone who picks one will have to switch again.

Parent PLUS loans follow different rules, and some consolidated loans that include a Parent PLUS loan cannot use the new plan. If that is you, read your notice carefully and confirm your options on your own account.

WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK

1. 1

   Log in at StudentAid.gov and confirm which plan you are on, who your servicer is, and what your deadline is.

2. 2

   Use the Loan Simulator on StudentAid.gov to compare your monthly payment and your total cost under each plan.

3. 3

   Apply for the plan you choose before your deadline, not on it.

4. 4

   If your application is still processing when a bill comes, ask your servicer about a processing forbearance so you do not fall behind.

5. 5

   Keep a copy of every notice and every confirmation.

A lower payment is not always the cheaper plan over the life of the loan. I wrote about that trap in Does a Lower Monthly Payment Actually Save You Money?

PROTECT YOURSELF

Every round of change brings people who promise fast, guaranteed relief. Real federal programs exist, but nobody can guarantee you an outcome, nobody needs your StudentAid.gov password, and the official help at StudentAid.gov and from your servicer is free. If someone asks for money before doing anything, or claims a special connection to the government, walk away.

If you want to talk through where you stand, you can reach me here.

Rachael J Katz is a financial educator, author and speaker. This article is general education based on public information as of October 2026 and is not legal or financial advice. Rachael J Katz is not affiliated with the United States Department of Education or any loan servicer. Rules change, so confirm your options at StudentAid.gov.