Save student loan plan ends, leaving millions of US borrowers 90 days to find a new one

Several students decorated their graduation caps for the Penn State Wilkes-Barre spring 2025 commencement ceremony on 10 May 2025. Photograph: Jason Ardan/The Citizens' Voice via Getty Images View image in fullscreen Several students decorated their graduation caps for the Penn State Wilkes-Barre spring 2025 commencement ceremony on 10 May 2025. Photograph: Jason Ardan/The Citizens' Voice via Getty Images Save student loan plan ends, leaving millions of US borrowers 90 days to find a new one The Trump administration is requiring borrowers to choose new repayment options after the Biden-era plan was ruled unconstitutional More than 7 million Americans will be forced to change their student loan repayment plan beginning on Wednesday, as the Save plan officially ends. The termination of the Biden -era initiative, which was launched in 2023, coincides with a larger overhaul of the US student loan repayment system. The seismic changes to the student debt landscape are the results of the Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed in 2025 and a March 2026 federal court ruling that the Save plan, an income-driven repayment program created with the goal of cutting undergraduate loans in half, was unconstitutional. US student debt repayment system is being overhauled – here’s what to know Read more Borrowers on the Save plan will now have 90 days to choose a different repayment plan. Those with loans issued before 1 July 2026 – and who do not plan to take out more loans – will retain access to multiple existing income-driven payment and fixed-income plans, including the income-based repayment (IBR), pay as you earn (Paye) and income contingent repayment (ICR) plans, which offer loan forgiveness between 20 to 25 years after payments. The latter two options, however, will also be dismantled by the summer of 2028. The US Department of Education has said the upcoming overhaul simplifies the student debt system. In a statement earlier this year, Nicholas Kent, the under-secretary of education, said: “For years, borrowers have been caught in a confusing cycle of uncertainty, but the Trump administration’s policy is simple: if you take out a loan, you must pay it back.” Financial experts and student borrower advocates have previously expressed major concerns about the changes. “People are not feeling good,” Michele Zampini, associate vice-president of federal policy and advocacy at the Institute for College Access & Success (Ticas), said. “The two things that are top of mind are payment affordability, of course, and the ability to actually enroll and make payments without being embedded in servicing errors.” Given the administrative limbo of the past year, Zampini does not anticipate a smooth transition. A September 2025 survey from Ticas and Data for Progress found that nearly half (48%) of borrowers reported long wait times to speak to or receive a response from a loan servicer when they reached out for assistance. “Even people who have been activ