The Education Department is in the process of implementing major reforms to federal student loan repayment programs, with particularly significant changes to income-driven repayment plans. And new data released by the department’s Office of Federal Student Aid last month sheds new light on the scope of the upheaval.

“Approximately 13 million Direct Loan and ED-serviced FFEL borrowers in repayment, deferment, or forbearance statuses are enrolled in an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan,” said FSA in a statement last month summarizing new data on federal student loans. “This includes SAVE borrowers who remained in a nonpayment status as of June 2026.”

Income-driven repayment (or IDR) plans allow borrowers to make payments based on a formula applied to their income and family size. Payments typically must be recalculated annually. And after 20 to 30 years in repayment (depending on the plan), a borrower can get any remaining student loan balance forgiven, although the forgiven amount could be treated as taxable .

But after passage of the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act last year and subsequent regulatory updates this summer, the Education Department is making sweeping changes to these student loan repayment plans. While borrowers in the SAVE plan, which is the newest and most affordable of the IDR options, are currently facing the most dramatic changes, all of the other income-driven repayment plans are being impacted in some way, as well. Here’s a breakdown.

Student Loan Borrowers Are Being Pushed Out Of The SAVE Plan

The most immediate major change impacting federal student loan income-driven repayment plans is the wind-down of the SAVE plan. More than seven million borrowers were enrolled in SAVE at the height of the program. But SAVE has been in limbo since 2024 when a federal appeals court issued a nationwide injunction blocking it, forcing millions of borrowers into an involuntary forbearance. And after the Education Department and a group of GOP-led state challengers entered into a settlement agreement to terminate the SAVE plan last spring, borrowers are now stating to get kicked out of the program.

Starting in July, loan servicers began sending notices to borrowers giving them three months to switch to different income-driven repayment plan. If they don’t act, the Education Department will place these borrowers in a Standard repayment plan. The first group of SAVE plan borrowers reached their deadline in September, and additional batches of borrowers are expected to follow, although some borrowers are reporting that their deadlines to act have been extended . Hundreds of thousands of federal student loan borrowers have already left the SAVE plan, however, according to the Education Department.

“While SAVE enrollment has declined by almost 1.2 million borrowers, many borrowers exiting SAVE are enrolling in other IDR plans,” said FSA in its data summary.

Student Loan Borrowers Will Lose Access To PAYE and ICR

Under the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, the PAYE and ICR plans will be phased out by July 2028. Federal student loan borrowers can continue to enroll in these plans for now, but the programs will disappear in less than two years. At that time, borrowers will have to switch to a different income-driven repayment plan.

But some borrowers are reporting difficulty accessing PAYE. Some individuals who should qualify for PAYE based on the disbursement dates of their federal student loans have indicated that PAYE isn’t showing up as an option in the Education Department’s online IDR application system. And other borrowers who have a mix of Direct federal student loans and FFEL loans appear unable to enroll their Direct loans in PAYE, even when they should otherwise qualify.

Meanwhile, the ICR plan remains a viable income-driven repayment option (for now) for Parent PLUS borrowers who consolidated their student loans. But the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act has now cut off Parent PLUS borrowers who didn’t consolidate their loans before July 1, 2026 from ICR. As a result, borrowers with unconsolidated Parent PLUS loans, and borrowers who consolidate Parent PLUS loans now or take out any new Parent PLUS loans going forward, are no longer able to access any income-driven repayment plans.

Student Loan Borrowers See Changes To IBR, But It’s Not All Bad

IBR is preserved under the recent legislative changes even as SAVE, PAYE, and ICR are phased out or terminated. But IBR is seeing some changes, as well.

First, the Education Department has removed the partial financial hardship requirement for IBR, which means that student loan borrowers at any income level can now enroll in the plan.

“Previously, borrowers were required to have a partial financial hardship and to not have certain types of ineligible loans in order to enter the IBR Plan,” says the Education Department in online guidance . “With the passage of the OBBBA, the IBR Plan now has updated eligibility criteria that allow the following types of borrowers to enroll: Borrowers who don’t have a partial financial hardship.”

However, the cap on payments under IBR equivalent to the 10-year Standard plan payment amount remains in place, providing IBR student loan borrowers with an important protection as their income rises.

“Monthly payment amounts under the IBR Plan will continue to be capped at an amount equivalent to the Standard Repayment Plan with a 10-year repayment period,” continues the department. “This means that payments on the IBR Plan will never be higher than payments on a Standard Repayment Plan with a 10-year repayment period.”

Meanwhile, Parent PLUS borrowers who consolidated their federal student loans prior to July 1, 2026, and enroll in the ICR plan and make at least one ICR payment before July 1, 2028, are now permitted to switch to the IBR plan. Given that ICR is getting phased out in 2028, this allows consolidated Parent PLUS borrowers to remain on track for IDR loan forgiveness and, if applicable, Public Service Loan Forgiveness , as well.

“Borrowers with a Direct Consolidation Loan disbursed before July 1, 2026, that includes a Direct PLUS Loan for parents (i.e., a parent PLUS loan) and who enrolled in the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan and made one full monthly payment in the ICR Plan” can enroll in IBR, says the department.

RAP Is A New Student Loan Repayment Plan

In July, the Education Department launched the new Repayment Assistance Plan, or RAP, the newest income-driven repayment plan option. Legacy borrowers from prior to July 1, 2026 can remain eligible for existing IDR options or can switch to RAP. Borrowers who consolidated their student loans or took out new federal loans on or after that date will only be able to enroll in RAP if they want to make payments based on their income.

In general, RAP is often (but not always) more affordable than IBR, but is typically more expensive than SAVE and PAYE in terms of monthly payments. But RAP may cost all student loan borrowers comparatively more in terms of cumulative payments over time because RAP has a 30-year repayment term for student loan forgiveness, far longer than all previous income-driven plans. That said, RAP also has an interest subsidy and principal benefit that can prevent further balance growth associated with excess interest accrual.

More than 40,000 federal student loan borrowers signed up for RAP during the first week of July when the program launched, according to the Education Department. The department has not provided updated statistics on RAP enrollment since then, although new data should be made available soon.

“Enrollment reporting in the new IDR plan—the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP), which was introduced in July 2026—will be available next quarter,” said FSA in its data summary.

In the meantime, last month the Education Department released an updated income-driven repayment paper application so that student loan borrowers who are having difficulty with the online application system can apply for RAP using a paper form.