RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT)—Good news for student loan borrowers. The income-driven repayment plan application is available once again after the Department of Education paused all applications in February.
12 On Your Side spoke with lending expert Kate Wood Thursday night. She says there are some big changes to the application process. First, only three of the four IDR options are available for you to apply for.
“A big difference is the SAVE plan is no longer available on there,” Wood said.
Wood says borrowers can apply for the income base (IBR), income contingent (ICR), and pay-as-you-earn plan (PAYE). The SAVE plan is paused because of a pending lawsuit.
Something else to keep in mind: When you log on to apply for an Income-Driven Plan, there are some extra steps you will now have to take.
“You can no longer click to be simply put on the plan that could give you the lowest monthly payment,” said Wood. “Instead, if you want to figure out which will cost the least, you’ll need to do that yourself on studentaid.gov to use the loan simulation tool to see how you’re monthly payment would change depending on what monthly plan you are on.”
Once you’ve done your calculations, chosen your plan, and pressed submit, it’s important to note that your application will not be processed immediately.
“While the application for IDR plans has reopened, those applications are not yet being processed because of the changes servicers need to make to implement the removal of the SAVE plan options,” Wood said.
Right now, there is no timeline on when the Department of Education will begin processing these applications, but experts say you should contact your loan servicer to see if you qualify for a forbearance if you are unable to pay your loan while you wait for your application to be processed.
Lastly, experts say the Department of Education pushed the deadline for anyone who received notification to recertify their income to February 2026.
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