Save student loan plan ends, leaving millions of US borrowers 90 days to find a new one

More than 7 million Americans will be forced to change their student loan repayment plan beginning on Wednesday, as the Save plan officially ends. The termination of the Biden -era initiative, which was launched in 2023, coincides with a larger overhaul of the US student loan repayment system. The seismic changes to the student debt landscape are the results of the Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed in 2025 and a March 2026 federal court ruling that the Save plan, an income-driven repayment program created with the goal of cutting undergraduate loans in half, was unconstitutional. Borrowers on the Save plan will now have 90 days to choose a different repayment plan. Those with loans issued before 1 July 2026 – and who do not plan to take out more loans – will retain access to multiple existing income-driven payment and fixed-income plans, including the income-based repayment (IBR), pay as you earn (Paye) and income contingent repayment (ICR) plans, which offer loan forgiveness between 20 to 25 years after payments. The latter two options, however, will also be dismantled by the summer of 2028. The US Department of Education has said the upcoming overhaul simplifies the student debt system. …