Student Loan Repayment Update (August 2026)

If you have student loans, check your repayment plan. Some borrowers will see significantly higher payments unless they choose a different plan. This is one of those times when being proactive could save you a lot of heartache (and bank account-ache) down the road.

Here’s what’s happening:

• The Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan has been discontinued. It had low monthly payments and a short timeline for loan forgiveness, and was generally considered the most affordable option for many

• About 1 in 6 federal student loan borrowers are on SAVE. Many were enrolled automatically

• Borrowers on SAVE are being automatically transitioned to a new repayment plan. Depending on your loan type and timing, this could be a 10-year Standard plan or a tiered plan based on how much you borrowed (more time to repay bigger balances)

  • These fixed-payment plans have higher monthly payments than SAVE in most cases

  • An Income-Driven Repayment plan (IDR) could lower your monthly payment. You must apply for these plans - they will not be granted automatically

  • Notifications are being sent in waves, starting July 1. Once you get a notice from your lender, you have 90 days to pick a new plan.

What to do:

• Your first step is to log into www.StudentAid.gov and find the plan you're on now. You can do this by going to “My Loans” and finding a section with repayment plan by loan, or by clicking into any individual loan’s details

• If you learn that you have any loans on SAVE, start by researching Income-Driven Repayment options here, and compare your estimated payment under the available plans with the StudentAid.gov Repayment Calculator before choosing one

• If you decide to apply for an IDR plan, do so as soon as you can. The Department of Education can take up to 60 days to process an IDR application. If yours isn’t finished when your notification window closes, the guidance is unclear on whether you’ll get auto-enrolled in a Standard plan with a higher payment

  • Applying early may cause your monthly payments to start sooner, but they will likely be lower than if you waited, didn’t get processed in time, and got enrolled in a Standard plan.

I’m not relaying this information to alarm you. But seriously, look at your loans  👀 

It could have a very real impact on your monthly bills. Now go forth and beat bureaucracy at its own game, starting with checking your current repayment plan. If this all sounds like a lot, or you have questions on how the new payment works with your finances, let's talk. I'm happy to help lay out some options.