The SAVE shutdown, date by date
If you just want the answer: find the date on your 90-day notice, pick a plan before it, and you're fine. Here's the full sequence for everyone who wants to understand what's happening.
Last reviewed: August 2026
How we got here
SAVE launched in 2023 as the most generous income-driven plan ever — 5% of discretionary income, $0 payments for millions, interest fully subsidized. Republican-led states sued, courts blocked the plan, and roughly 7–8 million enrollees were parked in a litigation forbearance: no payments required, but for most borrowers no credit toward forgiveness or PSLF either. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (July 2025) then rewrote the whole repayment system, creating RAP and scheduling the old plans for demolition.
The timeline
| Date | What happened / happens |
|---|---|
| Aug 1, 2025 | Interest resumed on SAVE loans. The 0% forbearance became an interest-accruing one — balances started growing again. |
| July 1, 2026 | RAP went live. PAYE and ICR closed to new enrollment. Servicers began mailing 90-day exit notices to SAVE borrowers in waves (~every two weeks, continuing into December 2026). 46,000 borrowers switched on day one. |
| Your notice date + 90 days | Your personal deadline. Choose RAP, IBR, or a Standard/Graduated/Extended plan. Miss it and you're auto-enrolled — no forgiveness clock, payment set purely by your balance. |
| Late 2026 – 2027 | SAVE forbearance fully winds down; all former SAVE borrowers are in new plans (chosen or assigned). |
| July 1, 2028 | PAYE and ICR cease to exist. Anyone still on them is moved automatically to RAP (or IBR where RAP-ineligible). IBR becomes the only surviving legacy IDR plan. |
What auto-enrollment actually does to your payment
The default plan amortizes your balance over a fixed term with zero regard for your income. A $60,000 balance at 6% becomes roughly $666/month on a 10-year schedule — for a borrower who may have been paying $0 on SAVE. The Department has indicated non-responders land in Standard-family plans; the exact assignment can vary, but none of the defaults are income-driven and none lead to forgiveness. If your income is modest, doing nothing is the most expensive possible choice.
Three things to do this week
- Log into StudentAid.gov and screenshot two numbers: your total balance/rate, and your IDR qualifying-payment count. The second number decides whether IBR's earlier forgiveness beats RAP (why it matters).
- Run the calculator with your AGI from last year's return. Five minutes, all three plans, real formulas.
- Apply on StudentAid.gov (IDR application, takes ~10 minutes) — don't wait for week 12 of your window. Servicer processing backlogs are real, and applying early protects you even if processing runs past your deadline.