Education Department Begins Sending 90-Day Notices to SAVE Plan Borrowers

The U.S. Education Department began sending official 90-day notices to student loan borrowers enrolled in the SAVE plan on July 1, 2026. Borrowers have 90 days from receipt to choose a different repayment plan, after which their loans will move to the Standard Repayment Plan or the Tiered Standard Plan.

The notices apply to borrowers currently in SAVE, those who applied to the plan, and those placed in SAVE forbearance because of an obsolete income-driven repayment application. The earliest any borrower must leave SAVE is September 29, 2026, though some will not receive notices until early 2027.

SAVE ended after Congress passed legislation sunsetting the plan and a federal circuit court approved a settlement in March 2026 that vacated its regulations.

The Tiered Standard Plan and the new Repayment Assistance Plan both launched on July 1, 2026. The Pay As You Earn plan remains available until 2028. Borrowers who applied for SAVE after a nationwide injunction but were never enrolled will resume payments on their prior plan if they do not act within the 90-day window.

Standard plan payments generally do not count toward forgiveness programs such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Hundreds of thousands of borrowers have already left SAVE, according to department data. Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent stated that nearly 1 million borrowers have exited the plan.

Thousands signed up for the Repayment Assistance Plan in its first 24 hours. The department had issued preliminary warnings throughout spring and early summer 2026, but those messages did not start the official 90-day clock. Education Secretary Linda McMahon testified on Capitol Hill on April 28, 2026.