SAVE is gone. Here is what actually replaces it.
If you were on SAVE, the plan no longer exists and a decision is being asked of you. Doing nothing is the one response with the worst default.
The SAVE plan was vacated by court order and the Department of Education is not enrolling borrowers in it. Borrowers who were on it are being moved off, in tranches, each with their own notice and their own window to choose a new plan.
Two things are worth knowing before you decide anything, and neither is comfortable.
Time in the SAVE forbearance did not count
Months spent in the SAVE litigation forbearance count toward neither PSLFnor income-driven forgiveness. For borrowers who spent a long period in it, that is time on the clock that simply is not there.
Interest accrual on loans in that forbearance restarted on 1 August 2025, and not retroactively, so balances have been growing again. Before making a decision, get your actual current balance and your actual qualifying payment count from your servicer rather than working from what you remember.
Doing nothing has a default, and it is a poor one
Borrowers who do not select a plan within their notice window are placed on the Standard plan or the newer Tiered Standard plan. Neither is income-driven. The payment is set by the balance rather than by what you earn.
For anyone in public service this is worse than it looks. Tiered Standard does not qualify for PSLF above a $25,000 balance, because qualifying plans must charge at least the ten-year standard amount and Tiered Standard runs ten years only below that threshold. So the default outcome for a public-service borrower with a six-figure balance is to keep paying and accrue no forgiveness credit at all.
What is actually available
- RAP. Open to any Direct Loan borrower with eligible loans. Payment is a percentage of your whole adjusted gross income, less fifty dollars per dependent, with a ten dollar floor. Includes an interest waiver and a matching principal payment. Forgiveness after 360 payments. Qualifies for PSLF.
- IBR. Still open and the only legacy income-driven plan surviving past 2028. Fifteen percent of discretionary income, or ten percent for new borrowers, capped at the ten-year standard payment. Forgiveness at 240 or 300 payments. Qualifies for PSLF.One catch: if you made 60 or more qualifying REPAYE payments on or after 1 July 2024, 34 CFR 685.209(c)(3)(ii) bars you from IBR entirely.
- PAYE and ICR. Closed to new enrolment, and terminating in 2028 regardless. Not a destination for most SAVE borrowers, whatever some coverage suggests.
RAP or IBR
For most former SAVE borrowers this is the real choice, and it does not have a single answer.
- IBR is often better for larger households and lower incomes, because it protects 150 percent of the poverty guideline scaled to family size. RAP has no poverty shield at all and gives a flat fifty dollars per dependent.
- RAP is often better where interest is the problem, because uncovered interest is simply not charged, and the balance falls every month for an on-time payer.
- IBR reaches forgiveness sooner, at 240 or 300 payments against RAP's 360.
One asymmetry is worth weighing before you elect RAP: months paid under RAP do not count toward IBR forgiveness, while IBR months do count toward RAP. The move from IBR to RAP preserves credit. The reverse does not.
A word about refinancing right now
This is precisely the moment when refinancing feels attractive. The plan you chose was taken away, the rules keep moving, and a private loan offers the appearance of certainty.
That appearance is real and the trade is also real. A private loan is fixed regardless of what happens to your income, carries no interest waiver, no statutory deferment, no discharge on death or disability, and no forgiveness. And it is permanent: there is no route back into the federal system at any price.
If your federal position has genuinely become worse, the calculator will show that with your own numbers. Deciding on the frustration rather than the arithmetic is how people end up giving away something they needed.
Compare your options, or readwhat happens to the remaining plans in 2028.
Common questions
Is the SAVE plan gone?
Yes. The SAVE rule was vacated by court order and the Department is not enrolling borrowers in it. Borrowers who were on SAVE are being moved to other plans, and interest accrual on loans in the SAVE-related forbearance restarted on 1 August 2025, and not retroactively.
Did time in the SAVE forbearance count toward forgiveness?
No. Time spent in the SAVE litigation forbearance counts toward neither PSLF nor income-driven forgiveness. For borrowers who spent a long period in it, that is a real loss of time, and it is one reason to check your payment count with your servicer rather than assuming.
What plan do I go on if I do nothing?
Borrowers who do not choose within their notice window are placed on the Standard or Tiered Standard plan. Neither is an income-driven plan, and Tiered Standard does not qualify for PSLF above a $25,000 balance. Doing nothing is therefore a decision with consequences, particularly for anyone in public service.
Can I go to PAYE instead?
Almost certainly not. PAYE is closed to new enrolment under 34 CFR 685.209(c)(4) and requires that you were already repaying under PAYE on 1 July 2024. Several articles have described PAYE as an available destination for SAVE borrowers. For most people it is not.