The student loan system is in chaos. Programs are changing, official tools are broken, and borrowers are left in the dark. We’re here to help you understand your options with free, accurate, no-nonsense guidance.
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Are you currently in the SAVE Administrative Forbearance?
Do you work for the government or a 501(c)(3) nonprofit?
How long have you been making payments on your federal student loans?
SAVE has ended. Interest is accruing and these months don’t count toward forgiveness. Pick a new plan now: IBR, PAYE (if you’re eligible) or RAP. If you don’t choose within 90 days of your transition notice, you’ll be placed on the Standard or Tiered Standard plan.
Read the SAVE Escape GuidePublic Service Loan Forgiveness offers complete, tax-free forgiveness after 120 qualifying payments. But there are critical mistakes to avoid.
Learn About PSLF PitfallsAfter 20-25 years of income-driven payments, your remaining balance can be forgiven. The official payment tracker went offline in 2025, but forgiveness is real and being processed in batches.
Learn About IDR ForgivenessYou’re building toward forgiveness. Make sure you’re on the right income-driven plan. RAP launched July 1, 2026, and PAYE and ICR end July 1, 2028.
Compare IDR PlansYou’re early in your repayment journey. Federal loans made on or after July 1, 2026, including new consolidation loans, can use only RAP or Tiered Standard. If you plan to borrow again or consolidate, learn how that affects you.
Learn About the July 2026 CutoffSAVE has ended. A federal court vacated the SAVE rule on March 10, 2026. ED counted about 7.5 million SAVE borrowers that month, and servicers are now moving them out in batches. Here’s what you need to know:
Your move: Don’t wait for your notice. Apply for IBR, PAYE or RAP now to resume making qualifying payments. If you work in public service, PSLF Buyback may let you get credit for forbearance months.
The student loan landscape changed dramatically in 2025 and 2026. Here’s the unvarnished truth.
A federal court vacated the SAVE rule on March 10, 2026. Since July 1, 2026, servicers have been sending notices in batches, and you get 90 days from your notice to choose a new plan. Until you switch, SAVE forbearance costs you interest and progress.
The Department of Education’s IDR payment tracker went offline in April 2025. ED said in March 2026 it is working to restore it, but it was still unavailable in late August 2026. Borrowers have also reported payment miscalculations in ED’s online IDR application.
A rule that would have added a “substantial illegal purpose” test for employers on July 1, 2026 never took effect. Federal courts in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. vacated it in June 2026. ED has appealed. For now, government and 501(c)(3) employers still qualify.
Loans made on or after July 1, 2026, including new consolidation loans, can use only RAP or the Tiered Standard plan. RAP charges 1–10% of your total AGI, forgives after 30 years (vs. 20–25), and waives unpaid interest when you pay on time. The chance to consolidate and keep IBR, PAYE or ICR ended June 30, 2026.
Despite the chaos, these forgiveness programs remain active and available. All applications are free through official channels.
Under a settlement in the AFT lawsuit, the Department of Education is processing long-term forgiveness in batches for borrowers who’ve completed 20 or 25 years of payments on IBR, PAYE, or ICR. A new round of notices went out in August 2026. Forgiveness with a 2026 or later eligibility date is generally federally taxable.
Tax-free forgiveness after 120 qualifying payments while working full-time for government or 501(c)(3) nonprofits. Still active. Courts blocked a 2026 employer rule change; ED has appealed.
PSLF Help ToolIBR, PAYE, ICR and the new RAP plan tie payments to your income. IBR, PAYE and ICR forgive remaining balances after 20–25 years; RAP after 30. PAYE and ICR end July 1, 2028.
Apply for IDRUp to $17,500 for highly qualified math, science or special education teachers, or $5,000 for other eligible teachers, after 5 consecutive, complete years of full-time teaching at a low-income school.
Teacher GuideWere you defrauded by your school? You may qualify for a discharge. Past group discharges include $72 million for more than 2,300 former Ashford University students in California (August 2023).
File a ClaimIf you have a disability that prevents you from working, you may qualify for a complete discharge. You can qualify through the VA, Social Security disability data, or certification from a doctor, nurse practitioner, physician assistant or licensed psychologist. It’s tax-free federally.
Check EligibilityIf your school closed while you were enrolled, or you withdrew within 180 days before it closed (120 days for loans made before July 1, 2020), you may be eligible for full discharge of your loans.
Check EligibilityUp to $75,000 for primary care providers (physicians, NPs, certified nurse midwives, PAs) or $50,000 for behavioral health and dental providers, for 2 years of full-time service in a Health Professional Shortage Area. The 2026 cycle is closed.
NHSC ProgramsPays up to 85% of unpaid nursing education debt (60% for 2 years, plus 25% for an optional third year) for RNs, APRNs, and nurse faculty working in Critical Shortage Facilities or nursing schools. The 2026 cycle is closed, and awards are taxable.
Nurse GuideSome of the Department of Education’s tools are offline or unreliable. We built free alternatives. Everything runs in your browser — nothing is stored, nothing is sent anywhere.
Compare IBR, PAYE, and RAP monthly payments side-by-side using 2026 poverty guidelines. See if you qualify for $0 payments.
Use toolTrack your progress toward 120 qualifying payments. See your estimated forgiveness date and progress bar.
Use tool4-question guided assessment shows when consolidating helps, when it hurts, and what changed on July 1, 2026. Clear DO NOT / MUST / RECOMMENDED verdicts.
Use toolSome of these dates have passed and changed the rules. Others are still ahead.
IDR forgiveness with an eligibility date on or after January 1, 2026 is generally federally taxable. If you reached 240 or 300 payments in 2025 but were discharged in 2026, you’re treated as a 2025 discharge and stay tax-free. PSLF, death and disability discharges remain tax-free.
The “substantial illegal purpose” rule was set to start July 1, 2026. Federal courts vacated it in June 2026, so it never took effect. ED has appealed; the existing employer rules still apply.
Loans made on or after this date, including new consolidation loans, can use only RAP or the Tiered Standard plan, not IBR, PAYE or ICR. RAP launched the same day.
Servicers began sending notices July 1, 2026, in batches; some borrowers may not get one until early 2027. You have 90 days from your own notice to choose a plan. If you don’t, you’ll be placed on the Standard or Tiered Standard plan.
If you’re on PAYE or ICR, choose another plan before July 1, 2028. If you don’t, you’ll be placed in RAP (or IBR if your loans can’t use RAP). IBR continues. If you have a Parent PLUS consolidation loan made before July 1, 2026, making at least one ICR payment by June 30, 2028 opens IBR.
These errors are devastatingly common—and often irreversible. Read carefully.
Two mistakes to avoid:
Mistake #1: If you already have Direct Loans and consolidate them anyway, you gain nothing for PSLF and can lose ground. Your payment count carries over only as a weighted average of the loans you combine, and a consolidation loan made now can use only RAP or Tiered Standard.
Mistake #2: If you have older FFEL or Perkins loans and DON’T consolidate them, your payments on those loans will never count for PSLF.
The rule: Check your loan types on StudentAid.gov. If they’re already Direct Loans, don’t consolidate. If they’re FFEL or Perkins, you MUST consolidate to get PSLF credit. Read the full guide →
If you’re pursuing forgiveness, paying more than your required monthly payment provides zero benefit. It doesn’t speed up your 120-payment timeline. It’s just wasted money.
Submit the Employment Certification Form annually (or when changing jobs). Otherwise you might discover after 10 years that your payments didn’t qualify.
If you’re a contracted employee (like some physicians), use the EIN of the qualifying 501(c)(3)—not your payroll provider. Wrong EIN = rejected certification.
Every month you stay in SAVE forbearance is a month of accruing interest with zero progress toward forgiveness. Switch to IBR, PAYE or RAP now.
Confusion creates opportunity for predators. Know the warning signs.
Scammers are using the real news that SAVE has ended to push borrowers into private loan consolidation. This is a trap.
If you consolidate your federal loans into a private loan, you become permanently and irrevocably ineligible for ALL federal forgiveness programs—PSLF, IDR forgiveness, Borrower Defense, TPD discharge. Forever.
The truth: SAVE has ended, but IBR, RAP and (until July 1, 2028) PAYE are still available. You have federal options. Never go private. Read more →
If you’ve been targeted by a student loan scam, report it to the FTC, your state’s Attorney General, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
If you’re in the SAVE Administrative Forbearance, interest has been accruing since August 1, 2025. Initially, this forbearance was interest-free. After a February 2025 appeals court ruling held SAVE unlawful, ED restarted interest on August 1, 2025 to comply with the courts. This is why it’s critical to switch to IBR, PAYE or RAP—you’ll make qualifying payments again, and RAP waives any interest your on-time payment doesn’t cover.
The Department of Education’s IDR payment tracker went offline in April 2025. ED said in March 2026 that it’s working to restore it, but it was still unavailable in late August 2026. Your best option is to contact your loan servicer directly and request a written statement of your qualifying payment count. Keep records of everything. Read our full guide →
Apply to switch to IBR (Income-Based Repayment), PAYE (Pay As You Earn) or RAP (Repayment Assistance Plan) now. All three qualify for PSLF. The key is getting out of the SAVE forbearance, which doesn’t count toward your 120 payments. If you worked full time for a qualifying employer during those months, you may be able to buy them back through PSLF Buyback. Apply at studentaid.gov/idr.
Yes. After legal challenges and an AFT lawsuit settlement, the Department of Education resumed processing 20/25-year forgiveness in batches. Borrowers are receiving forgiveness, though processing times vary and ED hasn’t published new discharge numbers since May 2026. Forgiveness with a 2026 or later eligibility date is generally federally taxable. Read our IDR Forgiveness guide →
Functionally, they all mean you no longer have to pay. The terms are often used interchangeably, but generally: “Forgiveness” typically applies to programs where you fulfill a service requirement (like PSLF or Teacher Loan Forgiveness). “Cancellation” often refers to IDR forgiveness after 20-25 years. “Discharge” usually applies to situations like school closure, disability, or fraud (Borrower Defense). The outcome is the same—your debt is eliminated.
Yes, if it’s a government employer or a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. A rule that would have added a “substantial illegal purpose” test on July 1, 2026 was vacated by federal courts in June 2026. ED has appealed, and the existing employer rules apply while the appeals are pending. Read our full employer eligibility guide →
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