Student loan borrowers have three key dates to watch in September. While not all borrowers are impacted by any one of them, the repercussions of each of them will be important for borrowers to know.

These dates include whether MOHELA will answer the Senate inquiry to their false past-due notices, the first SAVE borrowers being forced to transition to new repayment plans, and the last day to enroll in autopay to get the boosted 1% interest rate deduction.

There’s also a looming forth start date that should be in most borrowers minds: when collections will resume for Direct Loan borrowers.

Here’s the deadlines to know, in order, and what happens at each point.

September 10: MOHELA Answers For Its False “Past Due” Notices

Last month, a MOHELA error sent roughly 6,000 student loan borrowers false past due notices . The notices said their student loans were “severely past due” and that payment in full was required or they’d be sent to collections. The only issue is that most of these borrowers were current on their loans – not past due.

On August 27, a group of Senators led by Elizabeth Warren sent MOHELA a letter demanding answers to nine questions about what happened, how many borrowers were impacted, and more. They also asked about how many of these borrowers may have paid money they didn’t have to, whether refunds would be issued, and if any borrower incurred costs, would those be refunded?

What This Means For Borrowers: If you received a past-due notice, don’t automatically assume it was an error. It’s estimated that over 9 million borrowers are actually past due and facing collections. In any circumstance, you should login to your StudentAid account and confirm your loan status. You should also check your credit reporting to validate.

If you did receive a false notice and paid a balance you didn’t owe, contact your Senator and file a complaint with the Department of Education.

September 29: The First SAVE Borrowers Are Forced Into New Repayment Plans

Around 7 million borrowers in the SAVE forbearance are receiving notices that they must leave SAVE and enroll in a new repayment plan. The notices began going out on July 1, and have been sent in roughly two week intervals. Borrowers have 90 days to select a new repayment plan from the date of their individual notice, or they will be automatically moved into the Standard or Tiered-Standard Plan.

The current SAVE notice timeline estimate is that all borrowers will receive a notice by the end of 2026, and so all borrowers will have to leave the SAVE forbearance by the end of March 2027.

The deadline for borrowers in the first cohort of notices that were sent on July 1 would be September 29. Anyone in this group who has not selected a new repayment plan will be forced into Standard or Tiered-Standard. One borrowers are enrolled in the new plan, billing resumes, so these borrowers could expect their first payment to be due as early as October.

It’s important for borrowers to realize that Standard repayment may cost more than other repayment plan options. The income based options for most borrowers are the new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) and the Income-Based Repayment Plan (IBR). Two legacy plans still exist: Pay as you Earn (PAYE) and Income Contingent Repayment (ICR), but those are phasing out in 2028.

It’s important to note that there is one final lawsuit challenging the transition out of SAVE , but the focus of that challenge is to allow REPAYE to be a valid option until it sunsets in 2028. Both sides of this lawsuit have highlighted the September 29 date, so it’s possible that a ruling in this challenge could change things.

What This Means For Borrowers: If you haven’t selected a repayment plan and you were in this first cohort, you should do so this month. Use a student loan calculator to run the numbers on Standard vs. RAP vs. IBR. If you’re waiting for the outcome of the last lawsuit, realize that any move you make out of SAVE won’t block your options to enroll in REPAYE if that becomes a valid option in the future. You’d simply have to reapply at that point in time, if it ever happens.

September 30: Last Day To Enroll In Autopay To Claim The Bonus Interest Rate Reduction

To encourage borrowers to re-enroll in autopay and start repayment, the Department of Education is offering a bonus interest rate reduction for a limited time . They are increasing the existing 0.25% discount to 1.00% from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2028.

To qualify, you must enroll in autopay by September 30, 2026. If you’re already enrolled, you are set. It’s also important to note that the bonus reduction only applies to Direct Loans originated after July 1, 2012. It also only applies to borrowers that are current on their loans. So if you’re on a rehabilitation agreement, this won’t apply.

If you’re in the SAVE forbearance and looking to change repayment plans, you also need to finish enrolling in a repayment plan before you can setup autopay. Since it can take 2-3 weeks or longer to process an Income-Driven Repayment Plan application, start now so you can make the September 30 deadline.

What This Means For Borrowers: If you’re already making payments on your student loans, autopay is a simple way to save money. On a $40,000 student loan balance, that extra 0.75% in interest savings adds up to $600 over the two year period.

The Unknown Fourth Date That Is Coming Soon

For borrowers in default, there is another date looming: when involuntary collections will resume. This includes wage garnishments, tax refund offsets, and more.

In January, the Department of Education paused wage garnishments and tax offsets as it planned to move collections to the Treasury. That was completed over the summer, and with borrowers in all repayment plans returning to repayment, it’s likely that collections will also resume.

While there is no official restart date for all borrowers, FSA data for Q2 shows that $1 billion in loans were transferred to the Debt Management Collection System for the first time since 2020. It’s believed these first loans to resume collections were HEAL or ED-held FFEL loans.

What This Means For Borrowers: If you’re in default, take action now. Your two main options are consolidation and rehabilitation. Both take time, though consolidation is quicker. It’s also important to remember that collections is always more expensive than enrolling in an income-driven repayment plan.