Should You Switch IDR Plans in 2026?

If your income-driven repaymentIncome-Driven Repayment (IDR)A category of federal student loan repayment plans that calculate monthly payments based on income and family size rather than loan balance. Any remaining balance can be forgiven after 20–25 years of qualifying payments. plan is ending or changing, you need to move to an active plan to keep earning forgiveness credit. Staying in a terminated or sunsetting plan pauses your progress.

• SAVESAVE Plan (SAVE)The Saving on a Valuable Education Plan, a federal income-driven repayment plan introduced in 2023 to replace REPAYE. Its implementation has been subject to ongoing litigation, and enrolled borrowers have faced court-ordered forbearance periods. is gone. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act terminated SAVE, and a federal court vacated the SAVE Final Rule on March 10, 2026. You must switch.
• PAYEPay As You Earn (PAYE)A federal income-driven repayment plan that caps monthly payments at 10% of discretionary income and forgives remaining debt after 20 years. It is only available to borrowers who took out their first federal loans on or after October 1, 2007. and ICRIncome-Contingent Repayment (ICR)The oldest federal income-driven repayment plan, with payments generally set at 20% of discretionary income or a fixed 12-year amount, whichever is lower. It is the only IDR plan available to Parent PLUS borrowers after consolidation. are sunsetting. Both close permanently on July 1, 2028. You have time, but a deadline.
• Switching does not reset forgiveness. Prior qualifying months carry over when you change IDR plans.
• IBRIncome-Based Repayment (IBR)A federal income-driven repayment plan that caps monthly payments at 10% or 15% of discretionary income, depending on when the loans were taken out. Remaining debt is forgiven after 20 or 25 years of qualifying payments. and RAP are the durable options. IBR remains open now. RAP launches July 1, 2026.

Why IDR Plan Switching Matters in 2026

Three of the four income-driven repayment plans are gone or winding down.

SAVE no longer exists. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed July 4, 2025, eliminated SAVE by statute. On March 10, 2026, a federal court vacated the SAVE Final Rule, ending the plan ahead of the OBBBA’s July 1, 2028, statutory deadline. Borrowers still in SAVE administrative forbearance must move to another plan.

PAYE and ICR sunset on July 1, 2028. Under the OBBBA, both plans close to new enrollments on July 1, 2028, and borrowers still enrolled at that date will be transitioned to IBR or the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). Existing PAYE and ICR borrowers can remain until then, earning forgiveness and PSLFPublic Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)A federal program that forgives the remaining balance on Direct Loans after 120 qualifying monthly payments made while working full-time for a government or qualifying nonprofit employer. credit.

IBR stays open indefinitely. IBR has separate statutory authority and was not affected by the SAVE litigation or the OBBBA phase-out. It remains available for new enrollments.

RAP launches July 1, 2026. Borrowers with loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2026, can only enroll in RAP. Existing borrowers may switch to RAP voluntarily.

When You Need to Switch — and When You Don't

Switching IDR plans only matters when your current plan can no longer process payments and forgiveness credit.

If you’re in SAVE: You need to switch. Loans in SAVE administrative forbearance are not accruing qualifying paymentQualifying PaymentA monthly loan payment that counts toward federal forgiveness programs like PSLF or IDR forgiveness. Whether a payment qualifies depends on the loan type, the repayment plan, and the borrower's employment at the time of payment. credit. Switching to IBR (available now) or RAP (available July 1, 2026) restores active repayment and forgiveness credit.

If you’re in PAYE: Your plan is still active and processing payments and forgiveness credit. You can remain in PAYE until July 1, 2028. Switching before then is optional — it may make sense if another plan offers a lower payment or if you prefer a plan that isn’t sunsetting. If you stay, you’ll be transitioned to IBR or RAP when PAYE closes.

If you’re in ICR: Same as PAYE — ICR remains active until July 1, 2028. ICR payments are often higher, so some borrowers switch to IBR before the deadline.

If you’re choosing a plan for the first time: For loans disbursed before July 1, 2026, IBR is the most durable income-driven option. For loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2026, RAP is the only income-driven plan available.

Does Switching IDR Plans Reset Your Forgiveness?

No. Switching between income-driven repayment plans does not reset your forgiveness progress.

Qualifying months earned under SAVE, PAYE, IBR, or ICR all count toward the 20- or 25-year IDR forgivenessIDR ForgivenessThe forgiveness of any remaining federal student loan balance after a borrower has completed 20 or 25 years of qualifying payments under an income-driven repayment plan, depending on the specific plan. timeline. When you switch plans, those months carry over. If you made 150 qualifying payments under PAYE and switch to IBR, those 150 payments count toward IBR’s forgiveness threshold.

Temporary gaps in your payment tracker are processing delays, not lost credit. Servicer portals may briefly show zero counts during a plan change, but prior months are restored once processing finishes.

Consolidation is different. A Direct Consolidation Loan replaces the original loan with a new one, which historically reset payment counts. The one-time IDR account adjustment restored credit for borrowers who consolidated and met federal deadlines, but that adjustment has ended.

Related: PAYE vs REPAYE: Which IDR Plan Is Better?

How Switching Affects PSLF

IBR, PAYE, and ICR all qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Changing which of these plans you’re in does not reset your PSLF payment count — servicers update the count once the new plan is active.

SAVE payments also counted toward PSLF while the plan existed — those months still apply after you switch.

How to Switch IDR Plans

Apply at StudentAid.gov/idr. Select your plan — IBR, PAYE, or ICR — based on eligibility. A paper application is available on your servicer’s website or directly from Federal Student Aid.

1. Submit an IDR application. Select the plan you want to move into. If you’re unsure which plan fits, see the PAYE vs IBR comparison.
2. Authorize IRS income data. Applications using IRS data typically process within a few business days. Manual uploads take longer.
3. Wait for plan activation. Your servicer may place your account in processing forbearance while the application is reviewed. Those forbearance months can count toward IDR forgiveness once the plan change is finalized. Once approved, your servicer updates your repayment plan and monthly payment. During processing, some portals temporarily label the plan as “IDR” before the final plan name appears.
4. Save confirmation records. Keep a copy of your application confirmation and updated loan summary. These records help resolve disputes about payment amounts or qualifying credit.

Key Deadlines for IDR Switching

The first hard deadline is July 1, 2028 — when PAYE and ICR close permanently. But SAVE borrowers face a practical deadline now: every month in administrative forbearance is a month without qualifying payment credit.

• Now through June 30, 2026: SAVE borrowers in administrative forbearance can switch to IBR. No deadline forces the move, but forbearance months earn no qualifying credit.
• July 1, 2026: RAP becomes available as an additional option alongside IBR. SAVE borrowers who haven’t switched yet gain a second income-driven plan to choose from.
• July 1, 2028: PAYE and ICR sunset permanently. Borrowers still in those plans are transitioned to IBR or RAP. After this date, the only income-driven plans are IBR and RAP.