It’s no secret that the Trump administration has taken steps to limit student loan repayment options. Now, individuals on the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan will experience a temporary halt in forgiveness, the Department of Education (DOE) announced—well, if you can call slipping a note into its FAQ section an announcement.
“Currently, IBR forgiveness is paused while our systems are updated to accurately count months not affected by the court’s injunction,” the DOE states under a tab about processing IDR forgiveness. “IBR forgiveness will resume once those updates are completed.” However, it notes that loan forgiveness under the IBR is still being processed.
It’s unclear when the program will start back up again. Fast Company reached out to the DOE for comment.
According to Axios and CNN, about two million individuals are reportedly enrolled in the IBR plan.
The Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plans are also paused.
SAVE can’t be saved
This month has also marked the end of the fight to rescue former president Joe Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan.
Trump’s so-called big, beautiful bill states that it must cease by July 2028, but it was already on its last legs. In February, an appeals court sided with a Republican-backed lawsuit that argued the Biden administration didn’t have the authority to create it in the first place—hence the injunction referenced in the DOE’s pause announcement.
Individuals enrolled in the SAVE plan have been in an interest-free forbearance for over a year. Now, the roughly eight million borrowers on the SAVE plan will see interest accrue starting August 1. According to Student Aid, forbearance will continue “until the legal situation changes or servicers are able to send bills to borrowers at the appropriate monthly amount.”
Borrowers in SAVE, PAYE, or ICR plans who enroll in an IBR plan can count their payments toward forgiveness.
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