SAVE Plan alternatives: how to get student loan relief fast

By Ellie Chatman | Published on October 21, 2025

)

When President Biden first announced the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan in 2023, it promised to make monthly federal student loan payments more affordable for millions of borrowers. But in February 2025, a court order temporarily suspended the plan, leaving more than 8 million borrowers in student-loan limbo. So what does that mean for you? Should you stay on the SAVE Plan? Or are there other ways to seek student loan relief while you’re waiting things out? Here’s what you need to know.

What happened to the SAVE Plan?

When it first rolled out, the SAVE Plan was touted as a huge step toward mass student loan debt relief in the U.S. But shortly after its launch, a group of Republican leaders filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, challenging Biden’s authority to issue such a generous repayment plan without approval from Congress. In June 2024, the courts issued an injunction, or a court-ordered pause, on some of the key components of both the SAVE Plan and other income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. That went into effect on February 25, 2025.

Now, affected plans are to remain on hold through the end of 2025 while judges sort out the legal dispute. In the meantime, borrowers enrolled in the SAVE Plan have been placed in an interest-free forbearance period. So, if you’re a SAVE Plan enrollee, you don’t have to make payments until the injunction is lifted, and interest won’t accrue on your principal balance while you wait. The downside is that any payments you make under the SAVE Plan during this time won’t count toward loan forgiveness.

Right now, the U.S. Department of Education predicts that the payment pause will last until the end of the year. Loan servicers are expected to resume processing payments in September 2025 at the earliest, with the first payments potentially due by December 2025. However, the Trump administration could change that timeline, so it’s best to stay informed.

Keep in mind that even if your payments resume in 2025, you won’t need to recertify your income until February 2026. Keep an eye out for communication from your loan servicer; they’ll be able to share the specifics as those deadlines approach.

Should I make payments during my SAVE Plan forbearance?

If you’ve been struggling to afford your payments, now may be a good time to take a break. After all, interest will not accrue on your loans during the forbearance period, and payments are not required. Plus, any payments you make while enrolled in the SAVE Plan during the forbearance period won’t count toward loan forgiveness either under IDR or Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) programs.

That said, the calculus is a little different if you can afford to keep making payments. If you have the cash on hand, it might be smart to take advantage of the interest-free period and pay down your loan principal as much as possible. That way, when interest accrual does resume, it will be on a lower balance. This approach could save you money in the long run and help you get out of debt faster.

What are the potential benefits of the SAVE Plan?

The SAVE Plan has a few advantages over other income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, including the now-defunct REPAYE (Revised Pay As You Earn) plan, which it replaced. If courts allow it to remain in effect, it’s expected to be the best option for many low-income borrowers and other folks struggling to make payments. The benefits of the SAVE Plan are as follows:

• Lower payments for most borrowers. Unlike with other IDR plans, the SAVE Plan calculates enrollees’ monthly payments based on a smaller portion of their adjusted gross income (AGI). Here are some estimated monthly payments based on income and family size.

)Chart from studentaid.gov

• Balances won’t grow over time. For some borrowers, their monthly payment will be set to an amount that’s lower than the total interest that would accrue each month under a normal repayment plan. But with SAVE, once you make your monthly payment, the Education Department will waive any remaining unpaid interest. That means it won’t accrue, and you won’t ever end up owing more on your student loans than you borrowed in the first place.

• Undergraduate loan payments will be cut in half. If you have undergraduate federal student loans, your payments will be cut from 10% to 5% of your discretionary income (i.e., your income after taxes and living expenses). If you have a combination of undergraduate and graduate loans, your payment will be a weighted average between 5% and 10% based on your initial balances.

• Early forgiveness for low balances. If your initial federal student loan balance is $12,000 or less, you’ll receive loan cancellation for any remaining balance after 10 years of payments. For every $1,000 more, another year of payments will be required before you can receive forgiveness.

• Maintain eligibility for federal protections. If you enroll in an income-driven repayment plan—including the SAVE Plan—you’ll maintain eligibility for federal borrower protections. These include generous deferment and forbearance options and access to federal loan forgiveness, including PSLF. These programs provide lots of student loan borrowers with serious peace of mind.

Can I still apply for the SAVE Plan?

Currently, borrowers cannot apply for the SAVE Plan. However, other IDR applications are open, including those for income-based repayment (IBR), income-contingent repayment (ICR), and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) plans. These repayment options can help you consolidate your debt and potentially lower your monthly payment to an amount you can afford.

If you had already enrolled in the SAVE Plan, your loans were put into interest-free forbearance automatically. That means you don’t have to make any payments (or worry about racking up extra interest) until federal courts issue their final ruling about the SAVE Plan’s future.

IDR plan application

You can compare IDR plans and submit an application at studentaid.gov. Some of your federal loans may be eligible as-is, and some may require you to undergo student loan consolidation before your debt is eligible. Parent Plus Loans, for example, are only eligible for ICR plans and must be consolidated first. You can learn more about the eligibility rules for IDR plans here.

Alternatives to the SAVE Plan

While the SAVE Plan originally promised to offer financial relief for some borrowers, its future isn’t certain. If you’re looking for a long-term solution, are close to federal loan forgiveness, or want to keep working loan cancellation during the forbearance period, consider these options instead.

• Buy back PSLF forgiveness credits: If you work for a qualifying employer and have been making payments during the forbearance period, you might be able to “buy back” those months and have them count toward your 120-payment total.

• Enroll in a new IDR plan: If you’re close to gaining loan forgiveness, it might make sense to switch to an IBR plan, as IBR plan borrowers can still be granted forgiveness at this time. If you’re still far off, consider switching to an ICR or PAYE plan. These plans aren’t currently able to cancel your debt, but—unlike the SAVE Plan—they will still count your payments toward future forgiveness.

• Student Loan Refinancing: If you don’t qualify for a lower monthly payment under an IDR plan because you have a high income or because you have private student loans, you may want to consider student loan refinancing. Refinancing gives you the chance to swap out your current loans for a single new loan, sometimes with a lower interest rate.

Ready to see how much you could save by refinancing with Earnest? Takes minutes to get a rate check. It’s completely free, and it won’t affect your credit score.

About the Author

Ellie Chatman

Ellie Chatman is the Senior Copywriter at Earnest. She’s not only part of the team–she refinanced her own student loans with Earnest. Her firsthand experience fuels her desire to educate and empower others. Ellie’s goal is to help students and grads understand all their options so they can set themselves up for a successful future.

Disclaimer

This blog post provides political predictions and potential forecasting and does not reflect the views or opinions of Earnest.

This blog post provides personal finance educational information, and it is not intended to provide legal, financial, or tax advice.