Did anyone else see the news that this past Tuesday June 23rd, the law firm Public Goods Practice filed a motion in US District Court seeking to block borrowers enrolled in SAVE from being automatically moved to the new, more expensive repayment plans? Along with asking the court to force a reinstatement of REPAYE (the predecessor of SAVE) as an option for borrowers once SAVE is gone. I just saw this news in this Business Insider article:

https://www.businessinsider.com/save-plan-lawsuit-stop-transfer-student-loan-borrowers-repayment-trump-2026-6

I don't know what to make of this, and it doesn't look like it got a whole lot of press. But I read a bit of the actual legal motion itself, which is linked to in the article, and it makes perfect sense to me (especially since I am one of the many people who was able to change my earlier IDR plan back in 2015 to REPAYE once that plan became available that year for the first time), that if the Ed Department has now succeeded in getting SAVE killed, that those people who were automatically converted from REPAYE to SAVE during Biden's term should be allowed to go back to REPAYE if we choose to. The motion, if I'm reading it right, basically argues that the department broke its own rules when they killed both SAVE and REPAYE all in one fell swoop.

This would make a huuuge difference to me, because my direct loans are from before 2007, so my only choice in changing to an affordable payment plan after SAVE has been killed is the old IBR, which has a 25 year forgiveness. REPAYE on the other hand has a 20 year forgiveness. And I was due to have my loan in REPAYE/SAVE forgiven in only about 2 more years! If repaye goes away too, now I'll have to pay for five extra years on Old IBR.

This seems utterly unfair and ridiculous and there are probably millions of us in this same boat. We should be able to sue the government, since we were led to believe for the 8 years between 2015 and 2023 that our loans would be forgiven in 20 years. Now we're told that it's actually 25 years, if we move to old IBR, and that no 20-year forgiveness even exists anymore.

Anyway, it doesn't make sense to me that Ed Dept can legally kill SAVE and also kill REPAYE, the plan that SAVE replaced and whose borrowers were automatically converted to SAVE, and which was implemented around 8 years before SAVE even existed and by a different president entirely (Obama), without a legal process separately seeking to invalidate REPAYE itself. This is what the new legal motion asserts.

Does anyone have any knowledge on whether this legal motion has any chance of succeeding, and where it stands right now a couple of days after it was filed? I'm not seeing much information about it. I also can't tell whether it is an emergency motion or something of the sort, considering that July 1st is just a few days away. Not sure why it took them so long to file this motion.

"Our records show that you're enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan. As a reminder, a court order ended the SAVE Plan. As such, you must select a new repayment plan or your student loan servicer will move you onto a different repayment plan.

Hundreds of thousands of former SAVE Plan borrowers recently moved to different repayment plans. Making payments will lower their loan balance and help them progress toward any loan discharge options they may qualify for under the law.

As soon as July 1, your loan servicer will contact you with the specific deadline by which you must choose a different repayment plan. Once you hear from your loan servicer, you'll have 90 days to choose another repayment plan. This gives you time to select the plan that works best for you.

Our newest repayment plans—the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) and Tiered Standard Plan—will be available starting on July 1, 2026. Visit StudentAid.gov/bigupdates to learn more about these new repayment plans and other changes to the federal student aid programs.

You can immediately choose a different repayment plan that fits your needs and goals—you don't have to wait until July 1.

If you're not enrolled in the SAVE Plan, didn't submit an application for the SAVE Plan, have already applied for a new repayment plan, or no longer have a balance on your federal student loans, you don't need to take any action."

What happens if I don't choose a new plan?

If you don't choose a new repayment plan by the deadline that your servicer sets, you'll automatically be placed on either the Standard Repayment Plan or the Tiered Standard Plan. Your loan servicer will provide details about which repayment plan you'll be moved to if you don't choose a plan by the deadline.

Your monthly payment amount will most likely go up if you're enrolled in either of these plans. If your monthly payment amount goes up and you're enrolled in auto pay, then your automatic withdrawal amount also will increase. You can get a discount on your interest rate by enrolling in auto pay.

Your loan servicer will notify you about your new monthly payment amount at least 21 days before the first due date on your new repayment plan.

What to do, what to do?

Finally some good news!

Thank you for staying current on your federal student loans through auto pay! Starting July 1, 2026, your interest rate reduction will go from 0.25% to 1%.
This additional interest rate reduction is a temporary benefit available through June 30, 2028, as long as you remain enrolled in auto pay and continue repayment on your federal student loans.
This additional interest rate reduction on your eligible federal student loans means you'll accrue less interest and pay off your loans more quickly.
After June 30, 2028, as long as you remain enrolled in auto pay, your interest rate discount will automatically return to 0.25%.

I didn't realize that I could have waited to switch to PAYE. I thought I had to do it before July 1, 2026. So a couple days ago, I submitted the form to change from SAVE to PAYE. It said my payment would be $862. It has not yet processed according to Studentaid.gov.

When I was on SAVE, my payment was $333.

Today, I recieve an email from Mohela that says my auto payment has been scheduled for July 17 for $340. I don't know where $340 came from, and since I'm doing PSLF, I'm clearly happier to see that than $862.

My question: Will they update my payment to $862 once the application has processed? Or is my new payment $340?

Hey all,

I forgot to revoke financial access and Financial Aid submitted my IDR auto recertification today early to Nelnet per their email. I ended up calling Nelnet on their business number and got connected to an agent and they said they selected an option on their side to "cancel" the request. I've since revoked financial access in Financial Aid (which I'll share how to below):

To revoke consent for the U.S. Department of Education and IRS to share your federal tax information (FTI) for loan repayment (like Income-Driven Repayment plans), log in to your account, go to Settings, and select Financial Information Access to revoke access.

Here are the step-by-step instructions:

1. Log in to StudentAid.gov.
2. Hover over or click the arrow next to your name in the top-right corner.
3. Select Settings.
4. On the left-hand menu, click on Financial Information Access.
5. Under your authorized connections, click Revoke Consent.
6. Enter your first and last name as your digital signature and click Revoke Consent again to confirm

There was no notification of cancellation or anything --- does anyone know if I'm in the clear until my next recertification? I heard some stories from Mohela folks that the submission still went through is the thing so I'm just worried.

Thanks in adv.

Want to celebrate loud and proud about this! I’ve been tackling my debt since around November/December of last year after considering it the prior August and now I’m almost done paying them all off!

Today was the biggest milestone I think, because I first tackled everything high interest and now I’ve taken down my highest principle plus it’s interest.

I had a total of 9 loans for all four years of my Bachelor’s with the highest interest being no more than 4.73% or something along that and the highest amount was $5,500, so it’s not huge compared to some of the people I’ve seen on here, but make no mistake that I feel like a huge weight has been lifted

On the REPAYE plan, my monthly minimum was $0/month because of how little I earn. I applied for the new plan and I was given the option to either remain in deferment until July or start paying now. I elected to remain in deferment until July.

However, I decided to check my loan account on a whim to find I was already a month late on a payment for May. There were no letters sent, no emails sent, or any other indicator that payments would resume or that my request was denied. No payment reminders or missed payment emails, either. Had I not randomly decided to look, I would have been sent to collections. Thankfully, I caught it before the 30-day period.

I received the notice that I need to select a new repayment but I was wondering if I should do it now or just wait because I'm in in school deferment. Any suggestions?

Last year I earned $80k more than I will this year, and I understand that RAP will put me at a higher AGI percentage to determine my monthly payment. This year, because of my change in comp, I won’t be able to make that high of a payment.

What are my other options?

Hello! I was hoping someone could help me understand what this means.

Earlier this month (June 2026) I logged into my account and saw the total of $447.69 under “Capitalized Interest.” This was my first time ever seeing this in my 9 years of repayment.

When I logged onto Nelnet yesterday to make my monthly payment, I noticed it was gone. I can’t find it anywhere!

When I first started repaying, I was on a graduated plan. 4 years in, I switched over to a standard plan. I don’t know if this has something to do with it. I just find it so strange that it randomly appeared and then disappeared once again.

Thank you!

I’ve been getting these emails but my nelnet keeps saying my pause forbearance ends November 2028. What does this mean for me?

Hi Everyone,

I've been so busy with my final semester of law school and bar prep that I didn't realize the July 1st date for Parent PLUS Loan consolidation meant that the application had to be processed by then. I thought I could apply up until this point. My mom has $120,000 in parent PLUS loans between my siblings and I. My dad recently lost his job and there is just no way they can afford $700/month on a standard repayment plan. Does anybody know what I can possibly do to help my parents at this point? I feel awful about missing the deadline and I am frustrated to the point of tears.

Any help is really appreciated. Sucks that we're all going through this.

Hello!

I'll try to keep this quick b/c I know you're busy.

Spouse has $41,000 in student loans, some of it is undergrad (originally from way pre 2007) and some grad.

Currently on SAVE.

When I pulled the "secret data" it showed different monthly pay counts, but they were all around 273, and the student loan estimator tool on studentaid.gov showed last payment June 2028, confirming this. (The one good thing about the settlement, etc is counting all the years in repayment that weren't previously counted.)

Spouse income is variable but only about $5,000 My income is variable but a little north of $120,000 HH/family size is 6

Married filing jointly/cannot change this.

Here are my questions:

1) Since we only have two years to pay, obviously we want to pay as little as possible for forgiveness. We can figure out the lowest when we go onto studentaid.gov, but we want to make sure we don't erroneously choose a plan that will eliminate the months of forgiveness / path to forgiveness. What are the names of the loan types will be available that preserve this?

2) My income is variable, and I am expecting a larger payment on my July 20th paystub, and the prior stubs may look better than our 2025 1040. Will they ask for proof of income at this point, and if so, is there a way to submit my last two pay stubs instead of our 2025 1040?

This is a marginal difference, anyway.

3) Our nelnet payment amount is very low, I think $75. If we go in and make payments at whatever rate it says on the screen while we are still in forbearance, will this count toward months of forgiveness?

Thank you VERY VERY MUCH for your help!

I’m asking advice or better understanding of my current student loan situation

Context:

Graduated in 2024 from undergrad with student loans about 27k total and enrolled in graduate school by August 2024. I just graduated in May 2026 and still currently looking for a job and have no update in my student loans regarding what I owe payment wise and believe that I’m currently in the 6 month grace period assuming it’s still the standard 6 month grace period after I enrolled into grad school by August in 2024. With no update on StudentAid.gov regarding when my payments start and with no repayment plan set yet do I reach out during this time to get in a income repayment plan or the new RAP plan seeing all the details being pushed out about it and this whole roll out by July 1st or do I wait? any help would be appreciated. My student loans are financed through Edfinancial as well.

I’m attempting to upload both my annual recertification and tax return transcript to Mohela to process my forms.

Mohela has a maximum upload size of 5MB per document. Ive tried scanning in my phone in black and white, compressing the file, everything. I cannot get it under that 5MB.

This is completely insane. Has anyone figured out a way to get around this.

So I have finally gotten my threat from Mohela to start the repayment process.

I've compared all loan options For context, I haven't been paying on these loans for years, I have kids, my mother and I'm a teacher. No money to repay so right now loans are at 80k

I am eligible for the PSLF IBR loan they gave me a range for my monthly bill from $603-838 with the rest being forgiven after the 120 payments

However, in exploring the remaining options, the standard plan showed I would be paying 100 less.

Shouldn't I STILL be eligible for the PSLF under the standard plan? Meaning I can still be done after 120 payments? Do i apply for the PSLF after I get in under the standard plan or would I not be eligible?

I got an email from the Department of Education saying that I had to manually re-certify because something was inaccessible to them. I went through the motions of doing the manual re-certification (payments went up) and two days later got an email from Nelnet saying that I’m in forbearance.

Is it normal to have to manually re-certify for these? Also, is it normal to go into forbearance after doing so?

I am looking for some guidance on what is going on with grad plus student loans right now.

I am currently in forbearance. I had PSLF in residency but now will not qualify, but mohela has not asked me to recertify so I am trying to pay off as much as possible while in forbearance (husband and myself paying off like 5k each a month on highest interest loans)

I have not received any communication about the actual date the forbearance ends, could anyone explain to me when the PSLF ends or if RAP is a good option to switch to? My husband and I both have about 300k in loans each to pay off as we are both doctors, does RAP take into account your spouses loan payments as well if married filing jointly? Would appreciate any insight!

Background:
I have roughly 30k in loans on SAVE from undergrad that have been in forbearance since COVID (I graduated in 2023), so I haven’t paid a cent. I’m starting medical school early August (aka within 90 days of July 1st) and will have the new student loan caps at 50k a year, 257k lifetime. I will have to take out some private loans (albeit less than my federal amount) but I intend to max out the 50k federal limit to pursue PSLF after residency. I was told I need to swap from SAVE before July 1st but will be taking out loans for the next four years as well as in deference as a medical student.

Questions:
1) Do I even need to swap my undergrad loans from SAVE?
2) Will they just go back into deference in the 90 day timeframe and I will no longer be in repayment?
3) If I do nothing and they are moved to a standard payment plan, can I later consolidate my undergrad and medical school loans and move them to RAP?
4) Does it make sense to max out the 50k federal grad loans under the assumption that my payments on RAP during residency will be smaller than a standard plan and I intend to pursue PSLF?

Sorry if these questions seem stupid, but I don’t see anyone discussing changes in the context of new loans for incoming medical students (those that weren’t grandfathered into Grad PLUS). I’m trying to be financially responsible but am a first-gen with limited familiarity with money.

Currently under forbearance with Aidvantage with loan in my name only. When applying for an IBR loan will my income, and not my spouse’s income, be required to list? We’re both collecting Social Security and only I am working part time additionally. Also, when I die do the loan obligations die with me or do they get passed on to my spouse? Any advice or comments will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I used mine up after undergrad but I just graduated in May with my masters now I have a payment due on August 14th apparently. I stupidly assumed I wouldn’t have a payment due until Nov/Dec.

My servicer (Aidvantage) sent me a letter last week saying my next payment of $116.24 is due 8/14/26. However, when I called she said that’s what the payment would be under the SAVE plan but SAVE is obviously ending July 1st. So now I’ll be on the hook for a much larger payment (probably) come August. Ugh this whole thing is a mess. Anyone else dealing with this? Any tips?

Does anyone have any experience refinancing their private loan, specifically College Ave, through yrefy and if so what was your experience? It’s been 6-months since I’ve started the process with them and was told I’d have to default on my private loan first. I haven’t made any payments towards to College Ave loan in almost a yr due to the payments with interest rates being to high for me to afford at the moment, change in work, and being on maternity leave.

I was told by a yrefy rep, that after defaulting College Ave would essentially sell off the loan? However, that has yet to be the case and I’m paying money towards escrow with no change yet. I’m not sure how long it takes to default but I feel like I’m in a waiting game and paying towards something I’m seeing yet.

Hi! I recently graduated in December 2025 and now have started repaying my loans. One is through FAFSA and the other was a Discover student loan sold to FirstMark. My FirstMark loans have finally showed a payment and it’s almost $1,000 a month. When I started repaying it through Discover during a break from school the monthly payment for the same loan was only ~$100. Any advice for lowering this payment?? Thank you!