Student loan changes in 2025: What the SAVE plan lawsuit and IDR tracker removal mean for you

By Kaydee Ambas, CFEI® | Published on December 1, 2025

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If you recently logged intoStudentAid.gov and couldn’t find your Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) tracker, you’re not alone—and you’re not missing something. The U.S. Department of Education has temporarily removed the IDR payment count tracker due to a court ruling that paused key elements of the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, a newer income-driven repayment program designed to reduce monthly payments and shorten the path to loan forgiveness.

Understandably, this update has sparked confusion among federal student loan borrowers—especially those relying on IDR forgiveness after 10, 20, or 25 years of payments. Here's what’s happening, why it matters, and what steps (if any) you should consider taking right now.

Why was the IDR tracker removed?

In early February 2025, a federal judge issued an injunction halting certain provisions of the SAVE Plan, including its forgiveness timeline. The Department of Education hasn’t released an official statement explaining why the IDR tracker was removed. However, the timing strongly suggests that it’s related to the ongoing legal challenges to the SAVE Plan, which have temporarily halted certain forgiveness provisions.

The removal of the IDR tracker from StudentAid.gov doesn’t mean borrowers are losing their payment history. The tracker itself is just a tool that displays your progress toward forgiveness—it's a visual summary, not the underlying data. While it’s no longer visible on your dashboard, the payment information behind it is still being maintained by the Department of Education.

What is the SAVE Plan—and why is it in court?

The Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan is an income-driven repayment plan introduced in 2023 as a replacement for REPAYE. It offers the most generous terms of any federal IDR plan to date, including:

• Lower monthly payments
• Faster forgiveness for borrowers with low balances
• No interest accumulation if your payments don’t cover the monthly interest

However, parts of the SAVE Plan—especially the early forgiveness for borrowers with smaller loan balances—are being legally challenged, and a recent injunction paused implementation of those features.

What borrowers should do now

Even though this change may feel unsettling, you don’t need to take immediate action. But here are a few smart moves to make while we wait for more clarity:

• Take a screenshot of your loan information: Before the IDR tracker was removed, many borrowers took screenshots of their forgiveness progress. If you didn’t, you can still save your loan details by downloading your loan history fromStudentAid.gov. This can help you track your own progress and spot any discrepancies in the future.
• Keep making your payments: Unless you’re enrolled in deferment or forbearance, you should continue making regular payments under your current plan. Nothing has changed about your obligation to repay your federal student loans.
• Hold off on recertifying or changing plans (unless required): Borrowers who aren’t due for IDR recertification right now may want to wait until the legal landscape is more stable. Always check your loan servicer’s deadlines before making a decision.
• Stay informed: We’ll continue monitoring developments around the SAVE Plan and IDR forgiveness and will share updates as they happen.

What about refinancing?

If you’re pursuing federal student loan forgiveness, this is likely not the right time to refinance—doing so would remove your loans from federal programs entirely.

However, if you’re confident you’re not pursuing forgiveness and have a stable income and strong credit (or a creditworthy cosigner), student loan refinancing may still be a smart way to lower your interest rate and total repayment cost.

Final thoughts

It’s frustrating when the tools you rely on—like the IDR tracker—are suddenly unavailable. But even with the SAVE Plan under legal review, your progress toward forgiveness is still being counted. For now, the best move is to stay steady, save your information, and check back as the situation evolves.

We’ll keep covering these updates as they unfold—because staying informed is the first step to taking control of your student loans.