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Student Loan Assistance

There may be ways to lower your federal student loan payments, work toward loan forgiveness, and avoid negative credit reporting and default.
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1. Latest News: SAVE Litigation, Legislative Changes, and PSLF Update

SAVE Litigation & IDR Updates

Due to a Court order, the U.S. Dept. of Education is unable to implement the SAVE plan and parts of other income-driven plans.
  • “Income-driven repayment” (IDR) describes several repayment plans that use your income and family size to calculate your loan payments.  These plans offer the possibility of loan forgiveness after a certain number of years of qualifying payments. SAVE (formerly REPAYE), IBR, ICR, and PAYE are all IDR plans.
  • If you are in SAVE, your loans should be in a general forbearance (“SAVE Forbearance”). During the SAVE Forbearance:
    • No payments are due.
    • Interest will begin accruing on Aug. 1, 2025.
    • You will not receive Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) credit.
  • You can get out of the SAVE Forbearance and into another IDR plan by applying for IBR, PAYE, or ICR. By starting an online application, you can see which plans you are eligible for and the estimated monthly payments.
    • Servicers are now processing IDR applications, but there is a backlog. Over 1.5 million IDR applications were pending as of June 30, 2025.
      • Applying through your StudentAid.gov account and providing consent to access your most recent federal tax return may result in the fastest processing.
    • After applying for a new IDR plan, your loans should be placed in a “processing forbearance” for up to 60 days. During this time:
      • No payments are due.
      • Interest will accrue.
      • You will receive PSLF credit if you certify qualifying employment.
    • If your IDR application is not processed within 60 days, your loans should be placed back in the SAVE Forbearance until your application is processed.
  • Currently, the U.S. Dept. of Education is not processing forgiveness under any IDR plans.
    • A Court order is blocking forgiveness under PAYE, SAVE, and ICR.
      • Payments made under PAYE, SAVE, and ICR count toward IBR forgiveness if the borrower enrolls in IBR.
    • Forgiveness under IBR is not blocked by the Court order. IBR was separately enacted by Congress. However, the U.S. Dept. of Education is not processing IBR forgiveness while it makes updates to its payment counting system.
  • You can get updates and more information on the effects of the SAVE litigation on the U.S. Dept. of Education's website.

The SAVE Forbearance is expected to last until the legal situation changes or servicers can bill the appropriate monthly amount.

Legislative Changes to Federal Loan Repayment Plans

On July 4, 2025, a budget reconciliation bill was signed into law, which makes significant changes to federal student loan repayment options. The bill phases out the SAVE, PAYE, and ICR plans and introduces the new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). It also limits repayment options for Parent PLUS borrowers.  

If all your loans were disbursed or consolidated before July 1, 2026, you will be eligible for:
  1. a new IDR plan called RAP, which will be available next year;
  2. a modified version of the IBR plan (with no income eligibility requirement), which should be available soon; or
  3. the existing Standard, Graduated, or Extended plans.
  • If you are in ICR, PAYE, or SAVE, you must move into one of the above listed plans by July 1, 2028.
  • Many borrowers will have higher payments under IBR and RAP as compared to SAVE or PAYE. You can use this chart to estimate your RAP payments.
If any of your loans will be disbursed or consolidated on or after July 1, 2026:
  • Only two plans will be available: a new Standard plan and a new IDR plan called the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP).
  • The ICR, PAYE, SAVE, IBR, old Standard, Extended, and Graduated plans will not be available.

Limited Parent PLUS Options

Parent PLUS debt is NOT eligible for RAP
  • Parent PLUS Loans and Consolidation Loans that included any Parent PLUS Loans are ineligible for RAP. This includes “double consolidated” Parent PLUS Loans (i.e., Consolidation Loans that included Consolidation Loans that included any Parent PLUS Loans).
Repayment options for Parent PLUS Loans will be limited
  • Parent PLUS Loans disbursed before July 1, 2026 will only have access to the old Standard, Extended, and Graduated plans.
  • Parent PLUS Loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2026 will only have access to the new Standard plan.
Brief window of opportunity to consolidate Parent PLUS Loans to gain long-term IBR access. 
  • Parent PLUS Loans can access IBR, if you:
  1. consolidate them into a Direct Consolidation Loan by June 30, 2026; and
  2. enroll in ICR or another income-driven plan at some point between July 4, 2025 and June 30, 2028.
  • If you have not previously consolidated your Parent PLUS Loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan, consider consolidating by June 30, 2026 and enrolling in ICR by June 30, 2028 to gain long term access to IBR. The U.S. Dept. of Education is making updates to its systems to enable this IBR access, but it is unclear when it will become available.
Hazards of borrowing any federal loans on or after July 1, 2026 for parent borrowers.
  • If you take out or consolidate any federal loans on or after July 1, 2026, your Parent PLUS Loans, Consolidation Loans that included any Parent PLUS Loans, and “double consolidated” Parent PLUS loans will be restricted to the new Standard plan. In most cases, this will block you from pursuing PSLF for these loan types as you will not have access to a PSLF-qualifying repayment plan.

PSLF Updates

Forgiveness for the PSLF Program continues to process, and borrowers can track their PSLF progress in their StudentAid.gov accounts.

However, there is a large backlog of unprocessed PSLF Buyback requests. The U.S. Dept. of Education reported that the PSLF Buyback backlog grew to over 65,000 as of June 30, 2025 and that just over 2,000 PSLF Buybacks were processed in the month of June. 

Borrowers whose StudentAid.gov PSLF trackers are missing PSLF-eligible or PSLF-qualifying months should file PSLF Reconsideration Requests with the U.S. Dept. of Education.

2. Set Up and Review Your StudentAid.gov Account

StudentAid.gov is the U.S. Dept. of Education’s main website for federal student aid and a vital tool for managing your federal student loans.

You can use your StudentAid.gov account to:

  • identify your servicer
  • see what loan types you have and who owns them
  • calculate and compare your payments under various repayment plans
  • apply for an income-driven plan
  • certify your qualifying employment for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
  • find out how many eligible or qualifying payments you have toward PSLF
  • consolidate your loans

If you haven’t already done so, you should also set up your online account with your federal loan servicer.

When you go to StudentAid.gov, you’ll be prompted to sign in with your Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID and Password. If you don’t have an FSA ID, please make one. For help setting up your FSA ID or accessing your account, please call the U.S. Dept. of Education at 1-800-433-3243.

3. Find Out Your Federal Loan Types

There are several types of federal loans, including Direct Loans, Federal Family Education Loans (FFELs), and Perkins Loans. Some borrowers have a mix of federal loan types. Additionally, while most federal loans are owned by the U.S. Dept. of Education, some are owned by private lenders.

Borrowers need Direct Loans to access certain income-driven plans (including ICR, PAYE, and in the future, RAP). Additionally, only Direct Loans are eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). If you don’t already have Direct Loans, you can consolidate your federal loans into the Direct Loan Program for free. However, under regulations in effect after a February 2025 Court order, consolidating will restart the clock on forgiveness for income-driven plans. This means that payments made before consolidation will not count towards the number of qualifying payments needed for forgiveness. Additionally, consolidating on or after July 1, 2026 will affect the repayment plans available to you. 

More Information:

4. Can’t Afford Your Payments or Want to Earn Credit Toward IDR Forgiveness? Explore IDR Plans

You may be able to lower your payments by enrolling in an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan. IDR plans use your income and family size to calculate your monthly payment. Some IDR plans also offer the possibility of government interest subsidies and loan forgiveness after 20 to 30 years of qualifying payments. Currently, there are four IDR plans: ICR, IBR, PAYE, and SAVE (formerly known as REPAYE). A new IDR plan called RAP will be available by no later than July 1, 2026. 

A Court order is currently blocking the U.S. Dept. of Education from operating SAVE or processing forgiveness under SAVE, PAYE, and ICR. Forgiveness under IBR is not blocked by the Court order. IBR was separately enacted by Congress. However, the U.S. Dept. of Education has paused processing IBR forgiveness while it makes updates to the system it uses to count qualifying payments. 

Find Out How Many Qualifying Payments You Have Toward IDR Forgiveness: As part of a debt relief initiative known as the payment count adjustment, in October 2024, borrowers with federally owned loans (e.g., Direct Loans) received credit toward IDR forgiveness for many of their past payments and certain forbearances and deferments that would not normally count toward forgiveness. This IDR payment count adjustment brought many borrowers closer to IDR forgiveness. The U.S. Dept. of Education has temporarily removed IDR payment counts from borrowers’ StudentAid.gov accounts while it updates its payment counting system. 

Keep in mind that to continue earning credit toward IDR forgiveness, you typically need to enroll in an IDR plan.  To find out your eligibility for the different IDR plans and see your monthly payment estimates, start an IDR application on the U.S. Dept. of Education’s website.

More Information:

5. Can't Afford Income-Driven Payments?

There are several other options to consider if your payments under income-driven plans are not affordable. 

  • For married borrowers:
    • Consider filing taxes separately. If you are married and file joint tax returns, you may want to consider filing separate tax returns. If you file taxes separately, only your income will be used to calculate your IDR payment.
    • If you and your spouse both have federal loans, your overall payment may be more affordable if you both pay in IDR. However, this does not appear to apply to the new RAP plan.
    • You can read more about special considerations for married borrowers on the U.S. Dept. of Education’s website.
  • Extend your repayment term. Many federal loans come with a Standard repayment plan that has a 10-year term. There may be several ways to extend this time. Extending your loan’s repayment term will lower your payments (sometimes dramatically) but will result in higher total loan costs.
    • If you have more than $30,000 in federal student loans, you may be eligible for an extended repayment plan, which may allow you to make payments over up to 25 years. You can request an extended plan by contacting your servicer. Alternatively, you can find the Repayment Plan Request form in the U.S. Dept. of Education’s Forms Library, located under “Loan Repayment,” and submit it to your servicer.
    • Consolidating may be another way to extend your repayment term. The length of time you will have to pay depends on the size of your consolidation loan. For example, a Direct Consolidation Loan with a balance over $60,000 comes with a 30-year repayment term.  Keep in mind, however, that consolidating restarts the clock on IDR forgiveness, including wiping out any IDR credit you received through the payment count adjustment. Consolidating also adds any outstanding interest to your loan's principal balance. Additionally, consolidating on or after July 1, 2026 will affect the repayment plans available to you. Learn more about the pros and cons of consolidation on the U.S. Dept. of Education’s website.
    • Please note: payments made on a standard consolidation plan or extended plan will not count toward PSLF or IDR forgiveness. However, you may have received credit for past payments in these plans through the payment count adjustment (a temporary debt relief initiative).
  • Beware of graduated plans.  Payments under graduated plans start out low but increase every two years. Graduated plans have higher total loan costs and may become unaffordable in the long run. They also typically don’t count toward PSLF or IDR forgiveness.
  • As a last resort, use deferment or forbearance to temporarily pause payments. If you’re facing a short term financial hardship, you can request to temporarily pause your payments through deferment or forbearance. Keep in mind that interest accrues on unsubsidized loans during deferment and on both subsidized and unsubsidized loans during forbearance. Prolonged use of forbearance or deferment can substantially add to your loan costs.   

6. Are you a Parent PLUS Borrower?

Parent PLUS Loans aren’t eligible for any IDR plans. However, after they are consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan, Parent PLUS Loans presently become eligible for the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan. Some Parent PLUS Loan borrowers have been able to consolidate twice (i.e., "double consolidate") to access other IDR plans.

On July 4, 2025, a budget reconciliation bill was signed into law that affects repayment options for Parent PLUS borrowers, including:

  • Eliminating the ICR, PAYE, and SAVE plans by July 1, 2026.
  • Granting Parent PLUS Loans access to a modified IBR plan (with no income eligibility requirements), if they have been
    1. consolidated into a Direct Consolidation Loan by June 30, 2026; and
    2. enrolled in ICR or another income-driven plan at some point between July 4, 2025 and June 30, 2028.

The U.S. Dept. of Education is making updates to its systems to enable this IBR access, but it is unclear when it will become available.

Additionally, Parent PLUS borrowers will continue to have access to the Extended, Graduated, and old Standard plans, as long as they do not take out any new loans or consolidate on or after July 1, 2026.

PSLF and IDR lockout if you borrow on or after July 1, 2026: If you take out or consolidate any federal loans on or after July 1, 2026, then ALL your (1) Parent PLUS Loans, (2) Consolidation Loans that included any Parent PLUS Loans, and (3) Consolidation Loans that included Consolidation Loans that included any Parent PLUS Loans (i.e., "double consolidated" loans) will be restricted to the new Standard plan. All of your loans of these types will not have access to any income-driven plans. In most cases, this will also prevent these loans from receiving Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) as you may not have access to a PSLF-qualifying repayment plan (only the 10-year Standard plan and IDR plans qualify for PSLF). The Graduated, Extended, and old Standard plans will also be unavailable if you take out any loans after July 1, 2026.

IDR lockout for unconsolidated Parent PLUS Loans if you fail to act by June 30, 2026. Borrowers with unconsolidated Parent PLUS Loans who want those loans to have access to an income-driven plan must take action. Again, this includes: 

  1. consolidating any unconsolidated Parent PLUS Loans into a Direct Consolidation Loan by June 30, 2026; and
  2. enrolling in ICR or another IDR plan at some point between July 4, 2025 and June 30, 2028.

7. Work for the Government or a Nonprofit? Learn About PSLF

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program forgives the remaining balance on your Direct Loans after you’ve made 120 monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan (typically an income-driven plan), while working at least 30 hours per week for the government or many types of nonprofit employers. The payments do not need to be consecutive.

You may be closer to PSLF than you think: To help public service workers get closer to forgiveness, last year the U.S. Dept. of Education gave borrowers with Direct Loans credit toward PSLF for past repayment periods and certain deferments and forbearances that would not otherwise count toward forgiveness. To receive this credit, file a PSLF Form to certify all the qualifying employment you have held since the Oct. 1, 2007 start date of the program. Using the PSLF Help Tool including the e-signature option, may result in the fastest processing. Once your employment is certified, you will be able to see and track your progress toward forgiveness in your StudentAid.gov account. To keep earning credit toward PSLF, most public service workers need to enroll in an income-driven plan.

PSLF Servicing Changes: In July 2024, the U.S. Dept. of Education changed how the PSLF Program is serviced. You can now find your qualifying payment counts and certified employment periods in your StudentAid.gov account. Learn more about how to view and manage your PSLF progress on the U.S. Dept. of Education’s website.

Payment Count Disputes: If you disagree with the PSLF qualifying payment count shown in your StudentAid.gov account, or if payments are missing, you should file a PSLF Reconsideration Request with the U.S. Dept. of Education. 

New PSLF Buyback Opportunity:  Many forbearance and deferment periods do not count toward PSLF. However, you may be able to use a new process, called the PSLF Buyback, to get credit for certain types of forbearances and deferments in which you held qualifying employment. You can buy back these months only if:

  • you already have 120 months of qualifying employment; and
  • buying back months in forbearance or deferment would result in forgiveness.

Additionally, only certain forbearance and deferment types are eligible for buybacks. Notably, you cannot buy back in-school deferment periods. You can, however, buy back time spent in many forbearance and deferment types, including the SAVE Forbearance. If you have consolidated, you cannot buy back months from before you consolidated.

You can learn more about the PSLF Buyback and apply on the U.S. Dept. of Education’s website. Please note, however, that there is presently a large backlog of unprocessed PSLF Buyback requests. The U.S. Dept. of Education reported that the PSLF Buyback backlog grew to over 65,000 as of June 30, 2025 and that just over 2,000 requests were processed in the month of June. 

Steps to Pursue PSLF:
More Information:

8. Are Your Federal Loans Past Due or in Default? Learn How to Return Them to Good Standing

Due to the pandemic, payments were paused on loans owned by the U.S. Dept. of Education from March 2020 until Aug. 2023. When repayment resumed, the U.S. Dept. of Education offered an “on-ramp” period in which it did not report missed payments to credit reporting agencies. This “on-ramp” ended Sept. 30, 2024, and if you missed your next payment, your loan became delinquent.

If your loan is delinquent for 90 days or more, the missed payments will be reported to the credit bureaus. After 270 days of delinquency, the loan enters default. If the loan remains in default, the U.S. Dept. of Education can take your federal tax refunds, garnish a portion of your wages, and even take part of your Social Security benefits—without ever taking you to court.

The U.S. Dept. of Education is resuming involuntary collection activities on defaulted federal loans. Federal tax refund interception is now underway and wage garnishments will begin later this year.

  • If your federal loans are in default, you can learn below how to get your loans back into good standing.
  • If your federal loans are delinquent, you can learn below how to identify and contact your servicer to discuss your options.  You can also apply for an income-driven plan on the U.S. Dept. of Education's website.

Uncertain if your loans are in default? Log in to your StudentAid.gov account to find out. If you have not made payments since the start of the pandemic payment pause in March 2020, there’s a good chance that your loans are delinquent and will soon default. If they are not yet in default, it’s important to contact your servicer immediately. Keep in mind that a new company may be servicing your loans, as many loans changed servicers during the pandemic. Your StudentAid.gov account will identify your servicer’s name and contact information. You can either pay the past due amount or request a forbearance to cover the delinquency. If you cannot afford your payments, you can apply for an income-driven plan on the U.S. Dept. of Education’s website. Starting the online application will enable you to see which plans you’re eligible for and the monthly payments. 

If your loans are already in default, there are two ways to get out of default: rehabilitation or consolidation. Typically, you can only use each method once. So, if you default three times, your loans may be stuck in default. However, beginning in July 2027 borrowers will have the opportunity to rehabilitate out of default a second time. 

Consolidation is the faster path out of default. When you consolidate, your existing loans are paid off by a new Direct Consolidation Loan. However, consolidating results in outstanding interest being added to your principal balance and restarts the clock on forgiveness under income-driven plans. Starting on July 1, 2026, consolidating will also affect which repayment options are available to you. 

  • You can apply to consolidate on the U.S. Dept. of Education’s website. To consolidate out of default without first making three payments, you will need to apply for an income-driven plan as part of your consolidation application.
    • If you already have a Direct Consolidation Loan, and do not have other loans to add to a new consolidation loan, you cannot consolidate out of default.
    • If you are in wage garnishment, you cannot consolidate out of default.

Rehabilitation typically requires nine months of payments after signing a written agreement.

  • If you rehabilitate out of default, the record of the default is removed from your credit report (the late payments prior to default are not removed).
  • Wage garnishment and Treasury offset (e.g., tax refund offset) may continue until you have made five payments under the rehabilitation agreement.
  • To get started, you can call the U.S. Dept. of Education’s Default Resolution Group at 1-800-621-3115.
  • Please note that if you are sending the U.S. Dept. of Education your tax return to get a rehabilitation agreement, you will need to sign it, even if you filed your taxes electronically.
  • If the rehabilitation payments being offered are unaffordable, ask about filling out a Loan Rehabilitation: Income and Expense form to get a lower payment.
  • After you have received a written rehabilitation agreement, you must sign and return it.

You can learn more about how to rehabilitate or consolidate out of default on the U.S. Dept. of Education’s website. You can also call the U.S. Dept. of Education’s Default Resolution Group at 1-800-621-3115.

9. Did You Receive a Notice of Treasury Offset?

If your federal loans are in default, the U.S. Treasury can take your federal tax refunds and a portion of your Social Security payments (including Social Security disability benefits) or other federal benefits – to pay your federal loans. This is called Treasury offset.

Treasury offsets for defaulted federal loans resumed on May 5, 2025. Typically, before Treasury offset first begins, you will receive a written notice. To prevent offset, you must take action by the deadline specified in the notice. Beware of mail from scammers pretending to be the federal government or a federal loan guaranty agency – do a quick online search to confirm any phone number in the letter is for the U.S. Dept. of Education (e.g., Default Resolution Group) or a guaranty agency).

For most borrowers, the easiest way to avoid offset will be to get out of default through consolidation or rehabilitation.

  • If you submit an application to consolidate your defaulted federal student loan(s) into a Direct Consolidation Loan, to avoid offset, you must submit the application by the date listed on the notice of intent to offset.
  • If you enter into a written rehabilitation agreement, to avoid offset, you must make the first payment by the date listed in your notice of intent to offset. You may be able to call the U.S. Dept. of Education's Default Resolution Group to start setting up a rehabilitation agreement at 1-800-621-3115.
  • If you cannot rehabilitate or consolidate your loans out of default, you can still stop the offset by entering into a repayment agreement and making the first payment by the date listed on the notice of intent to offset.

You can also learn about how to make an objection to the offset on the U.S. Dept. of Education’s website. For example, reasons for objection can include:

  • You are disabled and previously submitted a Total and Permanent Disability application -- or are including an application with the objection.
  • You are asserting a borrower defense based on school misconduct, and you previously submitted or are enclosing a completed application for borrower defense to repayment.
  • You entered into a repayment agreement, such as a rehabilitation agreement, and made the first payment by the due date required in the notice of intent to offset.

10. File a Complaint with the Ombudsman's Student Loan Assistance Unit

If you live in Massachusetts and have a complaint against a student loan servicer or need help getting out of default, you can file a Student Loan Help Request with the Ombudsman’s Student Loan Assistance Unit. Please describe your complaint in as much detail as possible.

If you don’t live in Massachusetts, you can’t file a complaint with our Office. Instead, you can contact other state and federal agencies for help.

Student Loan Help Request forms are reviewed in the order received. It is important that you continue to meet any deadlines while you are waiting to hear from us. If your request would be better handled by a different government agency, we will refer you to that agency.

The Attorney General's Office cannot provide legal advice or act as your attorney. If you have questions concerning the specific application or interpretation of the law, please consult with a private attorney.

While waiting to hear from us, we encourage you to collect information about your federal student loans by creating an account on the U.S. Dept. of Education’s website at StudentAid.gov. Once logged in to your account, you will see a full list of your federal student loans, along with servicer contact information, loan types, interest rates, principal and interest balances, and other information that will help clarify your repayment options and the steps needed to access debt relief. Private student loans are not tracked by the U.S. Dept. of Education but may be listed on your credit report. You can obtain a free copy of your credit report once a year from each of the three major credit reporting agencies.

Additional Resources

11. Avoid Scams

Student loan “debt relief” companies charge fees for helping student loan borrowers access federal loan debt relief programs. There is nothing these companies can do for you that you can’t do on your own for free! If anyone contacts you asking for your personal information (like your FSA ID and password), your bank account information, or money to help you access debt relief—they’re trying to scam you. Visit the U.S. Dept. of Education’s website to learn more about the warning signs of a debt relief scam.

U.S. Dept. of Education Resources

Additional Resources

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