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Student loan repayment plans are changing. Here are key dates, things to know

Student loan repayment plans are changing. Here are key dates, things to know
STUDENT LOANS, LISTEN UP. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF CHANGES BEING MADE TO REPAYMENT PLANS. AND THERE ARE SOME NEW PLANS AS WELL. IT’S ALL PART OF THE RECENTLY PASSED GOVERNMENT SPENDING BILL. THE ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL ACT. AND JOINING US MORE TO TALK ABOUT THESE CHANGES IS HEARST DATA JOURNALIST ANNIE GENTLEMAN. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US. SO YOUR TEAM GOT A CHANCE TO DIG INTO THESE NUMBERS. SO HOW WILL THIS BILL AFFECT PAYING OFF STUDENT LOANS? YES. YEAH. WE DOVE INTO SOME OF THE LANGUAGE OF THE BILL AND FOUND THAT ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHANGES IS GOING TO BE THE OVERHAULING OF THESE REPAYMENT PLANS. SO SOME KEY DATES TO KEEP IN MIND INCLUDE SO NEW BORROWERS STARTING JULY 1ST, 2026 WILL JUST HAVE TWO PLANS A REVISED STANDARD PLAN AND A NEW INCOME DRIVEN REPAYMENT PLAN CALLED RAP, OR THE REPAYMENT ASSISTANCE PLAN. NOW, CURRENT BORROWERS ARE PEOPLE WHO BORROW BEFORE THAT DATE WILL HAVE JUST A FEW MORE OPTIONS, INCLUDING THE CURRENT STANDARD PLAN, THE EXTENDED PLAN AND GRADUATED PLAN, PLUS THE INCOME BASED REPAYMENT PLAN. NOW, PLANS THAT ARE GOING TO GET PHASED OUT INCLUDE THE INCOME CONTINGENT REPAYMENT PLAN, SAVE AND PAY, AND BORROWERS WHO ARE ON THOSE WILL HAVE UNTIL JULY 1ST, 2028 TO MAKE THE SWITCH. OKAY. YEAH, I KNOW WE HAVE SOME OF THOSE GRAPHICS TO PUT UP AS WELL, SO WE’LL PUT UP SOME OF THOSE DATES, TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE NEW REPAYMENT PLANS THAT ARE BEING OFFERED BY THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT THAT? YES. YEAH. SO THIS NEW REPAYMENT ASSISTANCE PLAN IS BASED ON ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME VERSUS DISCRETIONARY INCOME IN THE PAST. AND IT STARTS KIND OF AT A MINIMUM OF $10 A MONTH VERSUS SOME OF THE OTHER PAYMENT. INCOME DRIVEN REPAYMENT PLANS HAVE BEEN CLOSER TO ZERO. AND IT GOES UP ABOUT LIKE IT HAS TIERS. SO LIKE 10,000 TO 20,000 INCOME IS AT ABOUT 1%. AND THEN ON THE HIGHER END OF THAT INCOME, OVER 100,000 IS AT 10%. MONTHLY PAYMENTS. SO BASICALLY THE CALCULATION IS 10% OUT OF THE ANNUAL INCOME DIVIDED BY 12 TO GET MONTHLY PAYMENTS. AND THEY ALSO DEDUCT $50 PER DEPENDENT FOR THAT PLAN. OKAY. SO AGAIN I GOT TO IMAGINE WITH THESE PROGRAMS BEING PHASED IN AND PHASED OUT, IS THERE ANY DRASTIC DIFFERENCE THAT YOU FOLKS MAY HAVE NOTICED AS FAR AS WILL THIS HELP FOLKS WITH STUDENT LOANS, OR IS IT JUST CHANGING THE WAY EVERYTHING IS DONE FOR THEM? YES, I THINK ONE OF THE BIGGEST THINGS I HEARD, ESPECIALLY FROM SOME OF THE ADVOCATES I TALKED ABOUT, WAS JUST ALL OF THE CHANGES JUST CAUSING A LOT OF CONFUSION AND ALSO ADDING NEW BARRIERS FOR SPECIFICALLY LOWER INCOME STUDENTS WHO MIGHT OPT FOR MORE PRIVATE, MORE EXPENSIVE LOANS OR MAY OPT TO NOT GO TO COLLEGE. THIS IS ALSO COMING AS THE SAVE PLAN. NOT ONLY IS BEING PHASED OUT, BUT INTEREST WILL START ACCRUING, SO SOME BORROWERS MIGHT EVEN SWITCH FROM SAVE TO SOMETHING LIKE PAY SO THAT THEY CAN GET BACK INTO REPAYMENT. BUT THEN PAY WILL BE PHASED OUT IN A COUPLE OF YEARS. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. WELL, GENTLEMEN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME THIS MORNING. WE REALLY
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Updated: 12:34 PM CDT Jul 28, 2025
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Student loan repayment plans are changing. Here are key dates, things to know
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Updated: 12:34 PM CDT Jul 28, 2025
Editorial Standards
Changes are coming to the student loan repayment system, with several key dates for new and current borrowers to remember.President Donald Trump signed his tax bill into law earlier this month, which introduced several changes to the student loan repayment system. At the same time, the SAVE plan — introduced by President Joe Biden in 2023 — has been held up in courts.The next upcoming change occurs to borrowers on the SAVE, or Saving on a Valuable Education, plan. On July 9, the U.S. Department of Education announced the accrual of interest on loans under the SAVE plan would resume on Aug. 1.Can't see the charts? Click here for the best viewing experience.Here’s the timeline of what’s happened and what to expect:Aug. 1: Loans under SAVE to resume interest accrualLoans under the plan have been placed into forbearance and a 0% interest rate since July 2024, the first time an appeals court blocked the implementation of the SAVE plan. The ruling doesn’t mention interest explicitly, but borrowers on the SAVE plan were notified last week about interest restarting.About 7.8 million borrowers are on the SAVE plan, adding up to almost $440 billion in debt. This accounts for more than a third of the country’s student loan debt. SAVE is an income-driven repayment plan that lowered the monthly payments of many, sometimes to $0.Borrowers under SAVE may make payments toward their interest without switching plans, but cannot pay toward principal and are not considered to be in repayment. For borrowers working toward forgiveness, time spent on SAVE does not count toward time needed.July 1, 2026: New repayment plans, caps on graduate loans beginPresident Trump’s tax bill introduced two new payment plans — a revised standard plan and an income-driven plan. These plans will become available July 1 of next year and become the repayment options for a loan disbursed starting that date. Here's what those plans look like: The new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) cancels loans after 30 years of payments. Base payments are calculated as a percentage of adjusted gross income depending on income. The base rate is divided by 12 with $50 subtracted for each dependent to calculate the monthly payments. The minimum monthly payment is $10.In addition to the plan changes, the new law introduced caps on direct unsubsidized loans taken out. The total lifetime maximum allowed per student for all loans, excluding the parent PLUS loan, is $257,500.Graduate and professional students are also capped at a lifetime maximum of $100,000 and $200,000, respectively. The law also gets rid of direct PLUS loans for graduate and professional students, which helps cover the remaining costs after financial aid. July 1, 2028: Current borrower deadline to choose a new plan, if necessaryThe passing of the One Big Beautiful Act also sunsets income-contingent repayment plans, consequently getting rid of the SAVE, REPAYE AND PAYE. Borrowers with loans disbursed before July 1, 2026 who are on the ICR, SAVE, PAYE and REPAYE plans must switch plans by July 1, 2028 or will be automatically enrolled in the new RAP plan.Current borrowers will retain access to the current standard, graduated and extended plans in addition to one of two remaining income-based repayment plans under the condition of not taking out any more student loans.

Changes are coming to the student loan repayment system, with several key dates for new and current borrowers to remember.

President Donald Trump signed his into law earlier this month, which introduced several changes to the student loan repayment system. At the same time, the SAVE plan — introduced by President Joe Biden in 2023 — has been held up in courts.

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The next upcoming change occurs to borrowers on the SAVE, or Saving on a Valuable Education, plan. On July 9, the announced the accrual of interest on loans under the SAVE plan would resume on Aug. 1.

Here’s the timeline of what’s happened and what to expect:

Aug. 1: Loans under SAVE to resume interest accrual

Loans under the plan have been placed into forbearance and a 0% interest rate since July 2024, the first time an appeals court blocked the implementation of the SAVE plan.

The ruling doesn’t mention interest explicitly, but borrowers on the SAVE plan were notified last week about interest restarting.

About 7.8 million borrowers are on the SAVE plan, adding up to almost $440 billion in debt. This accounts for more than a third of the country’s student loan debt. SAVE is an income-driven repayment plan that lowered the monthly payments of many, sometimes to $0.

Borrowers under SAVE may make payments toward their interest without switching plans, but cannot pay toward principal and are not considered to be in repayment. For borrowers working toward forgiveness, time spent on SAVE does not count toward time needed.

July 1, 2026: New repayment plans, caps on graduate loans begin

President Trump’s tax bill introduced two new payment plans — a revised standard plan and an income-driven plan. These plans will become available July 1 of next year and become the repayment options for a loan disbursed starting that date.

Here's what those plans look like:

The new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) cancels loans after 30 years of payments. Base payments are calculated as a percentage of adjusted gross income depending on income. The base rate is divided by 12 with $50 subtracted for each dependent to calculate the monthly payments. The minimum monthly payment is $10.

In addition to the plan changes, the new law introduced caps on direct unsubsidized loans taken out. The total lifetime maximum allowed per student for all loans, excluding the parent PLUS loan, is $257,500.

Graduate and professional students are also capped at a lifetime maximum of $100,000 and $200,000, respectively. The law also gets rid of direct PLUS loans for graduate and professional students, which helps cover the remaining costs after financial aid.

July 1, 2028: Current borrower deadline to choose a new plan, if necessary

The passing of the One Big Beautiful Act also sunsets income-contingent repayment plans, consequently getting rid of the SAVE, REPAYE AND PAYE.

Borrowers with loans disbursed before July 1, 2026 who are on the ICR, SAVE, PAYE and REPAYE plans must switch plans by July 1, 2028 or will be automatically enrolled in the new RAP plan.

Current borrowers will retain access to the current standard, graduated and extended plans in addition to one of two remaining income-based repayment plans under the condition of not taking out any more student loans.