From Pymnts · PYMNTS · · 1m 30s
The SAVE plan is gone, pick fast or get billed
Millions of federal borrowers have 90 days to choose a new repayment plan, and silence picks the priciest one.
In brief
Millions of federal borrowers have 90 days to choose a new repayment plan, and silence picks the priciest one. If you were on SAVE, act inside your 90-day window. Doing nothing hands you the plan with the biggest payment jump. Originally reported by Pymnts.
The clock started already
Millions of federal borrowers who were on the defunct Biden-era SAVE plan now have 90 days from their notice to choose a new repayment option.
Silence is the expensive answer
Miss the deadline and you are moved automatically to the plan that raises your monthly payment the most. The first wave has to act by Sept. 29.
Two options for new loans
For anything disbursed after July 1, the choice is the new Repayment Assistance Plan, capped at 10% of adjusted gross income, or standard repayment. That is it.
Legacy plans are fading too
Older loans can still use other plans, but Pay As You Earn and Income-Contingent Repayment both end in 2028. Today's workaround has an expiry date.
“reminding folks that did not take out loans prior to July 1 that they can still apply for what we're calling now legacy plans”
A default problem, scaled up
The White House says caps and simpler plans will push tuition down from an average $90,000 a year. Advocates point at a $1.7 trillion portfolio with 9 million already in default.
Nothing cheap left to cut
Higher payments land on households that already trimmed everything easy. What remains on the list is rent, childcare, the car.
“Their baskets aren't empty, but cheap rungs for trading off or cutting out are exhausted.”
What it means
If you were on SAVE, act inside your 90-day window. Doing nothing hands you the plan with the biggest payment jump.
