Your top student loan questions answered: What are my options if my SAVE repayment plan is still in forbearance?

Are you curious about your student loans and need expert guidance? Submit your questions to our Student Loan Ombudsperson, Celina Damian. She responds to all student loan borrower inquiries, answering some of them here. Visit our Student Loans page to contact Celina.

How to navigate federal court pause on SAVE

In September, we discussed a federal court’s pause of the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) repayment plan. Throughout the fall, borrowers on the SAVE plan have remained on an interest-free forbearance, processing of income-driven repayment (IDR) applications has been paused or extremely delayed, and borrowers have been unable to accrue Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) credit.

It is important that all borrowers evaluate their unique situation and goals to determine the best path for them. If you are currently on a SAVE plan and can take advantage of no monthly payment, then take no action and wait for the court’s decision or further guidance from the Department of Education (ED).

Switch to a new plan to continue accruing PSLF

If you want to continue accruing PSLF credit, you have the option to switch to another IDR plan. Within the coming weeks, ED will begin processing the following applications:

• Income-Based Repayment (IBR) Plan
• Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) Plan and Pay as You Earn (PAYE) Plan (you must have applied before July 1, 2024), and
• ICR Plan (received from parent borrowers at any time).

Loan servicers will also process applications for recalculations for IBR, ICR, and PAYE. Please keep in mind that you will be placed on a processing forbearance while switching to another plan. If you select “lowest monthly payment,” the application will remain paused. Submitting more than one application will not expedite the process and will only cause more backlog for servicers. Use the Federal Student Aid Loan Simulator to estimate your monthly payment.

Another option for those pursuing PSLF, is the “buy back” option where borrowers with 120 months of eligible employment can buy back past months that were ineligible for PSLF due to deferment or forbearance status. Borrowers can submit a Buyback Request and make an extra payment of at least as much as what they would have owed under an IDR plan during the months they are trying to buy back.

We recognize this is a challenging time for borrowers who are trying to repay their loans, pursue forgiveness, or simply understand their options. As always, we recommend you keep all communication from your servicer and ED, keep copies of all submitted documents, download your entire account history and forgiveness tracking, and know your trusted sources.

Stay safe from scammers

We continue to see scammers defrauding borrowers by promising forgiveness, lower payments, or expediting applications. Remember, you don’t have to pay anyone to assist you with your student loans. Always research the company contacting you before working with them.

Get help from the Student Loan Empowerment Network

The DFPI created the Student Loan Empowerment Network for borrowers to receive free personal assistance with their student loans. The network can help you understand your options and answer your questions. Call it at (888) 774-2227 or fill out this Intake Form for help.

We also encourage borrowers to submit a complaint with us if they are having issues with payments, refunds, or accessing their information. California borrowers have protections under the California Student Borrower Bill of Rights. Despite changes to federal programs, they should still get consistent and accurate servicing of their student loans.