The SAVE plan ended: your 90-day deadline and your options

What happened

A court approved a settlement between the Department of Education and the State of Missouri in March 2026, ending the SAVE plan. The Department said on March 27, 2026 that more than 7.5 million borrowers were enrolled in SAVE and would have to move to another plan. No new borrowers are being enrolled and pending SAVE applications are denied.

Your deadline is on your servicer’s notice

• Servicers began sending notices on July 1, 2026, in groups. Every SAVE borrower is to be notified before the end of 2026.
• From the date of your servicer’s notice, you have 90 days to pick another plan. StudentAid.gov’s example: a notice received July 1, 2026 had a deadline of Sept. 29, 2026.
• If you don’t act in those 90 days, the servicer sends a final 30-day notice.
• The 90 days run from the servicer’s notice, not from an email from Federal Student Aid.

Look in your servicer account inbox, or search your email for “You Have 90 Days to Select a New Repayment Plan”.

If you do nothing

You are placed in a fixed-payment plan. If you have no loan paid out on or after July 1, 2026, that is the Standard plan. If you do and it has entered repayment, it is the Tiered Standard Plan. StudentAid.gov warns the payment may be higher than under an income-driven plan.

Plans you can move to

If all your loans were paid out before July 1, 2026: RAP, IBR, Standard, Graduated, Extended, and, until they close on July 1, 2028, PAYE and ICR. If you have a newer loan: RAP or Tiered Standard.

Credit you already earned

Changing plans does not remove PSLF or IDR credit earned before the SAVE forbearance. Months spent in the SAVE forbearance do not count toward PSLF or IDR forgiveness. For PSLF, those months can be bought back once you have 120 months of qualifying employment.

Pending SAVE application

Your servicer will deny it. If you don’t choose another plan within the 90 + 30 days, you go back to the plan you were on before you applied.

Compare the plans open to you in the calculator.

Not financial or legal advice. This page explains the published rules. It does not tell you which plan to choose. Your loan servicer and StudentAid.gov have the final word on your account.

Next guide: Borrowed on or after July 1, 2026? You have two plans, for all your loans