Borrowers May Have Up To 12 Months To Move Student Loans To Other Repayment Plans
By Adam S. Minsky,
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Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Adam Minsky is an attorney and writer focusing on student loans.
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Jul 08, 2026, 07:00am EDT
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Borrowers May Have Up To 12 Months To Move Student Loans To Other Repayment Plans
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Summary
The SAVE plan is ending, requiring millions of borrowers to move their student loans to other repayment plans. Initially, the Education Department said that notices would be sent to borrowers on July 1, 2026, giving them 90 days to choose a different plan or face automatic enrollment in a potentially costlier Standard plan. However, new information from one of the department's student loan servicers suggests that some borrowers may not receive their 90-day notification until as late as March 2027. This discrepancy has drawn criticism from advocacy groups, who accuse the department of unnecessary pressure tactics. Ultimately, borrowers must make individualized decisions based on their finances, goals, and when they receive official notices to move their student loans out of the SAVE plan.
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Linda McMahon, US education secretary, speaks in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, June 11, 2026. The Education Department has been urging borrowers with student loans in the SAVE plan to pick a different repayment plan. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg... More
© 2026 Bloomberg Finance LP
Some federal student loan borrowers could have a full 12 months to switch their student loans out of the SAVE plan, according to new information posted by one of the Education Department’s contracted student loan servicers. The revelation suggests that some of the department’s recent, urgent notices to borrowers instructing them to change repayment plans quickly may have been overblown.
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The SAVE plan, a Biden-era income-driven program that was designed to be the most affordable repayment plan ever, is winding down after more than two years of legal battles. Millions of borrowers with student loans enrolled in SAVE have been stuck in a forbearance during that time. No payments have been required during the forbearance, but the period has also not been counting toward student loan forgiveness.
The Education Department entered into a settlement agreement last December with a group of GOP-led states that had challenged the plan. And last spring, a federal appeals court ordered that the settlement agreement be effectuated. Separately, Congress passed legislation last year phasing out the SAVE plan by 2028. But after the court-approved settlement vacated the SAVE plan regulations, the program will be terminated much earlier than that, forcing borrowers into other, more expensive repayment plans.
But the department’s exact timeline for pushing student loan borrowers out of the SAVE plan has been unclear. The department had previously suggested that starting on July 1, borrowers would be getting notices instructing them to move their student loans to other repayment plans or they could be forced into a Standard plan. Then, the department revealed in recent court filings that those notices will be sent out in batches over time. Now, one of the department’s main loan servicers is suggesting that some borrowers may have up to 12 months to change repayment plans. Here’s the latest.
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Student Loans Will Need To Move Out Of SAVE Plan
One way or another, based on the current legal landscape, borrowers with student loans enrolled in SAVE will need to change to a different repayment plan. If they don’t, then the Education Department may automatically place them into a Standard plan, potentially resulting in much higher monthly payments and paused student loan forgiveness progress.
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“On March 10, 2026, a federal court issued an order preventing the U.S. Department of Education (ED) from implementing the SAVE Plan and parts of other income-driven repayment (IDR) plans,” said the Education Department in online guidance updated last week. “If you’re a borrower who has loans in forbearance because you enrolled in or applied for the SAVE Plan, you are required to select a new repayment plan. If you don’t select a new repayment plan, your loan servicer will move you to a different plan.”
The department began sending out notices to student loan borrowers this week, giving them 90 days to pick a different income-driven repayment plan or risk being put into a Standard plan. Several student loan borrower advocacy groups echoed this process.
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“You will not be able to stay in the SAVE plan for long,” said the National Consumer Law Center in an article in April. “You will need to enroll in a different repayment plan soon, likely within 90 days of July 1, 2026. The Department has announced that loan servicers will begin sending notices to borrowers enrolled in SAVE on or around July 1, 2026, telling them to enroll in a different repayment plan within 90 days.”
“Beginning on July 1, 2026, servicers will start sending communications to SAVE borrowers,” said Protect Borrowers in a blog post in May. “Once borrowers receive that email, they will have 90 days from the receipt of that email to switch into a different payment plan.”
Both NCLC and Protect Borrowers indicated that most borrowers would effectively have until the end of September 2026 to move their student loans from SAVE to a different repayment plan. The end of September is around 90 days after the beginning of July, when the department indicated it would start notifying borrowers of the need to change plans.
Some Borrowers May Have Much Longer Timelines To Move Student Loans To Other Repayment Plans
But new information that has come out within the last week suggests that at least some borrowers may have much more time to move their student loans from the SAVE plan to other income-driven repayment plans.
Nelnet, one of the Education Department’s contracted student loan servicers, released public information on its website suggesting that some student loan borrowers may not even receive the 90-day notice telling them to change plans until as late as March 2027. That means that some borrowers may have until July 2027 (three months, or roughly 90 days, after March) to move their student loans to a different plan.
“Nelnet is reaching out to borrowers. Our notification informs you of the deadline to choose a new plan,” said Nelnet in a “Frequently Asked Question” section of its website dedicated to the SAVE plan transition. “Once you hear from us by email or mail (based on your communication preference), you must make a switch within 90 days."
Nelnet continued, "Nelnet is notifying nearly three million Nelnet borrowers, so we're reaching out in waves. You'll receive your notice between July 2026 and March 2027.”
Nelnet’s statement confirms to some extent what the Education Department said in court filings last month as it faces an amended legal challenge over its plans to force borrowers to move their student loans off SAVE. The department indicated in a filing last month that the 90-day notices would indeed go out “in tranches,” as Nelnet said on its website. But while the department did say that most student loan borrowers in SAVE wouldn’t have to change repayment plans until after September, there was nothing in its court filing that suggested that some borrowers would be able to remain in SAVE until as late as the summer of 2027.
Advocacy Groups Critical Of Conflicting Information On Timeframe To Move Student Loans Out Of SAVE Plan
Some student loan borrower advocacy groups highlighted the new revelation as evidence that the Education Department was trying to scare borrowers into prematurely moving their student loans out of the SAVE plan.
“The Department of Education has been telling folks they *must* leave the SAVE student debt plan by July 1,” said the Debt Collective, a national debtor’s union advocating for student loan borrowers, in a statement on X on Monday. “But days ago, Nelnet quietly updated their FAQ page noting some debtors' 90-day clock to leave the SAVE plan won't begin until 2027. They've been lying about the timeline.”
There is no publicly available information indicating that the department has specifically told borrowers that they must leave the SAVE plan by or before July 1. But the department has been sending out high-pressure emails and notifications to borrowers, urging them to change repayment plans as soon as possible.
“Our records show that you are currently enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan or have a pending SAVE application,” said the department in mass emails to borrowers in May. “A recent court order ended the SAVE Plan. It is no longer available to borrowers, and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) is ending the SAVE Plan over the coming months. You must take action.”
Ultimately, many borrowers will likely be notified that they have to move their student loans out of SAVE well before the end of this year. And, as NCLC and other student loan advocacy groups have noted, other borrowers may not want to wait for the notice at all if they can afford their monthly payments under the other income-driven repayment plans and want to resume making progress toward eventual student loan forgiveness. Borrowers will have to make individualized decisions based on their personal financial circumstances, their goals, and when they receive the 90-day notices from their loan servicer instructing them to select a different plan.
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