Missed the SAVE Deadline? Your New Student Loan Bill Can Still Come Down

Take an example borrower. She is single, earns $45,000 a year and owes $32,000 in federal student loans at 6.5%. Her loans were on SAVE, a federal plan that set bills by income. Courts paused it, so she had no bill for two years. Her servicer, the company that sends her loan bill, mailed a notice last summer. She set it aside.

Her 90 days ran out. Now she has a bill of $363 a month on the Standard plan. On RAP, the newest income-based plan, she would pay $150. That gap is $213 a month, or about $2,560 a year.

If this sounds like you, the deadline did not lock you in. You can still move to a plan based on your income. This guide shows how to check where you are, what each plan would cost, and how to switch.

What happened to SAVE borrowers who did not choose?

SAVE was an income-based plan that courts blocked starting in 2024. In March 2026, a court approved a settlement that ended it. The Department of Education then gave its 7.5 million SAVE borrowers at least 90 days to pick a new plan.

Servicers began sending those 90-day notices on July 1, 2026. The first notices gave borrowers until about September 29. Notices that went out later have later deadlines, so check the date on yours.

If you did not pick a plan in time, your servicer moved you to one of two fixed plans:

• Standard plan. For loans made before July 1, 2026. You pay the same amount each month for 10 years. The bill is at least $50.
• Tiered Standard plan. For borrowers who also have a federal loan made on or after July 1, 2026. The more you owe, the more years you get to pay. It is 10 years under $25,000 and 15 years under $50,000. It is 20 years under $100,000 and 25 years above that.

Both plans set your bill by your balance. Your income does not count. News reports say many first bills arrive in October or November 2026.

One more thing changed. Interest on SAVE loans started building again on August 1, 2025. So your balance may be higher than you remember.

How do I check which plan I am on now?

There are three places to look:

1. Your notice. The letter or email from your servicer names your new plan and your first due date.
2. Your servicer account. Log in to the company that sends your bill. The plan name shows on each loan.
3. Studentaid.gov. Sign in and open your loan details. Each loan lists its repayment plan.

If the plan says "Standard" or "Tiered Standard," your bill is based on your balance. If it says "RAP" or "IBR," your bill is based on your income.

How much more will I pay on a fixed plan?

We ran three example borrowers through each plan. IBR (Income-Based Repayment) is an older plan that also sets your bill by your income. All loans are federal Direct Loans made before July 1, 2026. Each borrower took out a first loan after July 1, 2014. That date changes the IBR bill, as explained below. The table shows monthly payments.

These borrowers have only older loans, so they would land on the Standard plan. We show Tiered Standard so you can compare if you also have a newer loan.

• The single borrower earning $45,000 saves $213 a month by moving from Standard to RAP. IBR costs a little more than RAP for her.
• The family pays $690 on Standard. IBR drops that to $171, a cut of $520 a month, or about $6,236 a year.
• The single borrower earning $95,000 pays $1,277 on Standard. IBR is $592, which is $685 less each month.

If you borrowed before July 1, 2014, IBR charges 15% of your income above the protected amount, not 10%. Then the borrower earning $45,000 pays $263, and the one earning $95,000 pays $888. In those cases RAP is the cheaper pick.

You can run your own numbers in our student loan plan comparison or the federal Loan Simulator.

How is each payment worked out?

Standard and Tiered Standard. Your servicer sets one fixed payment that pays off the balance and interest over the plan's years. A longer term means a smaller bill, but more interest in total.

RAP (Repayment Assistance Plan). You pay a share of your adjusted gross income, the income line on your tax return. The share starts at 1% for income just over $10,000. It goes up by 1% for each extra $10,000 you earn, up to 10% for income over $100,000. Then $50 a month comes off for each child or other dependent. For our borrower earning $45,000, the share is 4%. That is $1,800 a year, or $150 a month. The bill is never under $10. RAP forgives what is left after 30 years of payments.

IBR (Income-Based Repayment). Part of your income is protected: 150% of the federal poverty line for your family size. For one person in 2026 that is $23,940. For a family of four it is $49,500. You pay 10% of your income above that line each year, split into 12 bills. Our borrower earning $45,000 has $21,060 above the line. 10% of that is $2,106 a year, or about $176 a month. If you borrowed before July 1, 2014, it is 15%. The bill never goes above what the 10-year Standard plan would charge.

For a full side-by-side of the two income plans, see our guide to RAP vs IBR.

Can I still switch to a lower payment?

Yes. Federal rules let a borrower with loans made before July 1, 2026 change to any plan they qualify for at any time. There is no new deadline to miss.

To switch:

1. Go to studentaid.gov/idr and fill out the application. It covers income-driven plans, meaning plans like RAP and IBR that set your bill by income.
2. Choose the plan you want, or ask for the plan with the lowest payment.
3. Let the Department pull your tax data from the IRS. The Department says this makes the application faster.
4. Keep paying your current bill until your servicer confirms the new plan in writing.

If you took out a new federal loan on or after July 1, 2026, your choices are Tiered Standard or RAP. IBR is not open to you. Parent PLUS loans and some consolidation loans have their own rules, so ask your servicer before you apply.

What happens to my PSLF or forgiveness progress?

Payments you already made still count. The plan you are on now decides whether new payments count.

• Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). This program forgives what is left after 120 qualifying payments. You must work full time for a government or nonprofit employer. Payments on RAP, IBR and the 10-year Standard plan count. PSLF only counts payments at least as big as the 10-year Standard bill. A Tiered Standard plan longer than 10 years has a smaller bill, so those payments generally do not count.
• RAP forgiveness. RAP forgives the rest after 30 years of payments. If you switch to RAP later, full on-time Standard payments can count toward that.
• Paused months. Some of the months your loans were paused under SAVE still count toward forgiveness on an income-based plan. Check your count in your studentaid.gov account.

If you work in public service and land on a long Tiered Standard term, switching soon protects your PSLF count.

What if my new payment looks wrong?

First, check the basics on your bill: your plan name, your balance, and your interest rate. Plug them into the Loan Simulator to see if the payment matches.

If it does not match, call your servicer and ask why. Ask for the answer in writing, and save every letter and email.

You would not be the only one with questions. We checked the CFPB complaint database for MOHELA, one of the largest servicers. It lists 692 complaints from June through September 2026 tagged "received bad information about your loan." The same months of 2025 had 431. That is a rise of about 61%.

If your servicer does not fix the problem, file a complaint in two places:

• The Federal Student Aid Feedback Center, which handles federal loan disputes.
• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which sends your complaint to the company and tracks the reply.

Do not stop paying while you wait. Missed payments can bring late fees. After enough missed months, the loan can go into default. Our wage garnishment guide explains what follows.