Parent PLUS Loan Deadlines and Changes

A recent budget reconciliation bill (known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”) changes federal student loan repayment options. These changes could prevent your Parent PLUS Loans from accessing income-driven repayment plans. Borrowers must typically repay in an income-driven plan to pursue Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).

If you have Parent PLUS Loans that you have not previously consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan, and you want to preserve your ability to pay in an income-driven plan, there are steps you need to take: 

1. certify your employment now if you are pursuing PSLF
2. apply to consolidate your Parent PLUS Loans by April 1, 2026
3. do not take out any federal student loans on or after July 1, 2026
4. enroll in the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan and make at least one ICR payment before July 1, 2028
5. switch to the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan before July 1, 2028

What are Income-Driven Repayment plans?

• Income-driven plans calculate your monthly payment using your income and family size and offer the possibility of forgiveness after 20 or 25 years. Both IBR and ICR are income-driven plans. Having access to income-driven plans offers flexibility in the event your income decreases in the future (e.g., due to retirement or job loss).
• To pursue PSLF, you typically need to enroll in an income-driven plan.

What is PSLF?

• The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program forgives the remaining balance on your Direct Loans after you make 120 payments in a qualifying repayment plan while working at least 30 hours per week for the government or most types of nonprofits.
• Only payments made in an income-driven plan or a 10-year plan qualify for PSLF.  

Do you need to consolidate by April 1, 2026?

• If you have not previously consolidated your Parent PLUS Loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan, you must apply to consolidate them by April 1, 2026 to preserve your ability to pay in an income-driven plan. You typically need access to an income-driven plan to pursue PSLF.
• Warning:  If you apply to consolidate after April 1, 2026, all of your Parent PLUS Loans (or consolidations or ‘double consolidations’ that included Parent PLUS Loans), will be blocked from accessing income-driven plans. In most cases, this will prevent these loans from receiving PSLF.
• If you previously consolidated your Parent PLUS Loans into a FFEL Consolidation Loan, you must apply to consolidate again into a Direct Consolidation Loan by April 1, 2026 if you want to access PSLF and/or income-driven plans. (No new FFEL Program Loans were made after July 2010.) 

Next Steps to Access PSLF and/or IDR for your Unconsolidated Parent PLUS Loans

1. Certify your employment now if you are pursuing PSLF 

To certify your employment, you will need to work with your employer to fill out and submit a PSLF Form. Using the PSLF Help Tool, including the e-signature option, may result in the fastest processing of your form. You will need to ask your employer for an email address where it can receive and e-sign the form, and you will need your employer’s federal tax employer identification number (EIN). Certify any qualifying employment you've held since taking out your loans. Only employment after the Oct. 1, 2007 start date of the PSLF Program can be certified.

Your new Direct Consolidation Loan will receive an average of the PSLF qualifying payment counts on the loans consolidated, weighted based on their balances. Certifying any qualifying employment before consolidating will ensure the weighted average is correctly applied.  

2. Apply to consolidate by April 1, 2026

Apply on StudentAid.gov to consolidate any Parent PLUS Loans that have not previously been consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan. Make sure to include any FFEL Program Loans you may have, including FFEL Consolidation Loans. 

If you want all your loans to be on the same PSLF forgiveness timeline, you may want to include any other loans you may have in the consolidation. 

3. Do not take out any federal student loans on or after July 1, 2026

If you take out any federal loans on or after July 1, 2026, all your Parent PLUS Loans (including those you consolidated or ‘double consolidated’ before this date) will be ineligible for an income-driven plan. Instead, these loans will only have access to a new tiered Standard plan, which is not eligible for PSLF.

If you plan to take out additional Parent PLUS Loans for a student who is still in school, you should carefully explore all your options.

While you may be able to take out private student loans instead of Parent PLUS loans, make sure you understand the interest rate, whether the rate is fixed or variable, as well as the repayment term length and expected monthly payment amount. Private student loans generally do not offer income-driven repayment or forgiveness options.  

4. Enroll in the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan and make at least one ICR payment before July 1, 2028

As part of your consolidation application, you will need to choose a repayment plan. Initially, your only income-driven option will be the ICR plan. Providing consent to access your federal tax information should result in the fastest processing of your ICR application.

While you do not need to enroll and make one payment in ICR right away, you must do so at some point before July 1, 2028. However, if you are pursuing PSLF, you should enroll in ICR and make one ICR payment as soon as possible, so your payments can begin counting toward PSLF. 

5. Switch to the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan before July 1, 2028

Once you make one payment on the ICR plan, you can switch to the IBR plan using the application at StudentAid.gov/idr. The IBR plan usually offers lower monthly payments than the ICR plan (unless you have a low balance). After July 1, 2028, IBR will be the only income-driven plan available for your consolidated Parent PLUS Loans.